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Cracking the Code: NCHS Senior Snaps Technology Stereotypes

North Crowley High School senior Lexi Cepak’s lifelong fascination with figuring out how things work and her interest in computers is paying off — gaining her regional and national recognition for her efforts in the computer science field.

NCHS Principal Stefani Allen, senior Lexi Cepak, NCHS computer science teacher G. Lynne Ryan

Lexi was one of 14 high school girls who won the 2016 DFW Regional Affiliate Award for Aspirations in Computing, given by the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT). She also was one of six selected as a national runner-up. NCWIT honors 35 high school girls as national winners and 350 as national runner-ups along with regional affiliate winners across the nation each year.

The young women are active in computing and technology in their school and community, and many plan to pursue computing majors in college.

“I’m extremely proud of Lexi,” North Crowley computer science teacher G. Lynne Ryan said. “She’s been a terrific leader.”

Lexi has served as president of the North Crowley Computer Club for two years, launching an outreach project for elementary students in conjunction with the global Hour of Code. The Hour of Code is designed to introduce newcomers to computer science and show that anyone can learn the basics. Lexi helped develop a lesson to teach elementary students, who learned how to manipulate robots with the help of computer code.

She enjoyed seeing the young students get excited about the field of computer science.

“I think computer science is going to be something necessary for everyone to know in the future,” she said. “It’s great to see how much they love playing with the robots.”

Computer science is never boring, Lexi said, and that’s part of why she likes the field and plans to pursue it in college and as a career.

“It’s like a puzzle,” she said. “There’s always more to discover, and there’s always more for me to learn.”

Winning the NCWIT award is an accomplishment that Lexi hopes also will serve as an example to other girls like her who love computer science.

“It’s important to inspire other young women,” she said.

NCWIT strives to increase women’s participation in computing and technology, and awards such as this help support that effort.

“I just think it’s a way for them to be seen, so that other girls can go, ‘Oh, girls are doing this – they can go into technology,’” Ms. Ryan said. “‘They can do coding, and they can be girls.’”

Lexi hopes to couple a major in computer science with a minor in science and is very interested in doing research while in college. She is still deciding which college to attend.

In the future, she hopes to start a company and one day even sponsor her own award for girls who love computer science.

“One of my goals is to be able to help the world in some way,” she said.