Hackathon 2022-2023

Students and their coaches around the High Desert traveled to Granite Hills which is located in Apple Valley to compete in the Hackathon competition that is hosted by MDCP Career Pathways. As students arrived at the auditorium, they were introduced to the prompt that the teams had to work with, be given their team number, and the rules of the competition.

After the introductions, teams were released into different areas of the school and were given four hours to create a product or solution that would help with school safety and security.

For Oak Hills High School, there was a total of three teams who worked to create unique products and solutions in order to ensure student safety. Throughout the four hours, teams were also able to introduce themselves and their ideas to the judges who would be witnessing the presentations and final products with their code.

After four hours, teams returned to the auditorium and began giving their presentations in order based on their team number. Each team was given two minutes and thirty seconds to tell the judges and the audience about their product/idea and showcase their code, and another five minutes to answer questions the judges may have. There was a variety of resources that teams used such as Arduinos and websites. Not only that but many of the teams also used a variety of coding languages such as C++, Python, and HTML.

After seven amazing presentations, judges left the auditorium in order to evaluate the presentations and determine the winners. In the meantime, students received pins from MDCP that were designed from Graphic Design and NASA pins, NASA folders, etc.

Eventually, the judges returned to the auditorium and teams returned to their seats, eager to know who would be placed in the top three for this year’s Hackathon competition.

For second place, the team consisted of Mark Sanchez, Brandon Torres, Aaron Ortega, Nicholas Mestas, and Alejandro Smith.

It was a close competition but the all-female team that consisted of Natalie Lewis, Valeria Ramirez, Alejandra Aguilera, Tammy Dinh, and Violet Roy was the team that took home the 1st place trophy and their own precision screwdriver kits.

Congratulations to all three teams representing Oak Hills High School and taking on this year’s challenge. Each team has done exceptionally well and has proven not only their skills in coding but also in creativity, public speaking, and communication.