Computer Science Club

Once a week, Phillips Academy students interested in computer science meet to learn and practice computer science concepts. After learning some new material, the students work together to solve first simple, then more complex problems. Students trade solutions and programming tips.

Several regional and national competitions offer club members a friendly competitive atmosphere in which to apply what they’ve learned. These fun and interesting competitions challenge students to practice programming and understand computer science more thoroughly. The competitions include:

• American Computer Science League: http://www.acsl.org
• Continental Math League Contest (CML) in Java: http://www.continentalmathematicsleague.com
• St. Bonaventure University High School Invitational Programming Competition: http://www.cs.sbu.edu/contest/
• The USA Computing Olympiad (USACO): http://oldweb.uwp.edu/academic/mathematics/usaco

Contests require different and flexible levels of participation. They are announced by email to members of the Computer Science Club and those who ask to be added to the mailing list. Everyone is welcome! Club members have traveled to competitions in New York, Ohio, Texas, and other locations. The club’s recent achievements include first-place finishes in the 2007 St. Bonaventure contest and the 2007 CML in Java, and a second-place finish in the 2007 Northern Region of ACSL.

The club is run and taught by Maria Litvin, instructor of mathematics and computer science. It meets Wednesdays at 7:15 pm in Morse 206.

P.A. also has The Techmasters organization made up of computer or technology-savvy students. Techmasters is a technology club and our main goal is to help with support of student and faculty computers systems. However, no knowledge is required to join the Techmasters and attending the meetings is a sure way to learn more about computers.