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First, Isaac Perry, an AP English teacher and chairperson of Lakeland High Schools English Department, brought AP Computer Science to the school.

Now, LHS has earned the College Boards AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award.

The award recognizes Lakeland for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles. Schools honored with the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award have expanded girls access in AP Computer Science courses, according to a College Board release.

Out of the 20,000 institutions that offer AP courses, 1,119 achieved either 50% or higher female representation in one of the two AP computer science courses or a percentage of the female computer science examinees meeting or exceeding that of the schools female population during the 2019-20 school year. Thats nearly 37% more than the 818 schools recognized last year.

In 2020, Lakeland was one of 831 schools recognized in the category of AP Computer Science Principles.

During an unprecedented year, Lakelands female students have demonstrated perseverance and dedication in their study of AP computer science, said Stefanie Sanford, College Board chief of global policy and external relations. We could not be more proud of Lakelands female students for staking their claim as the next generation of STEM and computer science professionals. We cant wait to see their passion for next generation technology lead to lifelong success.

Perry, who graduated from Milford High School in 1995, majored in English and minored in math. His first year of teaching was at Everett High School; the next two years, he was at Pontiac Northern.

A teacher at LHS since 2003, hes spent most of his career teaching English and didnt pursue computer science as a class until about 2015.

He received special training from Code.org, a national nonprofit that aims to increase representation of minorities and girls in computer science. One of the things he learned was how to convince female and minority students to try an AP computer science class.

I knew I was going to need to advertise; I knew I was going to need to talk the class up, explained Perry. He felt that his position teaching junior AP English classes helped him to reach out in an intentional way to his target group; he was able to convince a lot of those students to take one of his computer science classes.

Perry, who is the chairperson of LHS English Department, considers himself a lucky man to get to pursue two of his passions English in the morning and computer science in the afternoon.

We now have two AP level computer science classes taught here, he said. For the first four years or so, he only taught one computer course: AP Computer Science Principles. New this school year is AP Computer Science A, which focuses upon learning the Java programming language.

He estimated that hes taught about 250 students. Last year, he added, I did have an even 50/50 split. This year, I believe Im very close to that.

Dr. Brigitte Knudson, LHS interim principal, said of the award: It is such a great honor. Shes proud of the work Perrys done to breathe life into the program, not just for the female students, but for all LHS students. No Huron Valley school had AP computer science courses before he started it.

Its so wonderful that the program was recognized, she added. I cant say enough wonderful things about Isaac Perry. Hes just phenomenal. Hes an inspiration for all of our students.

The College Boards press release added that, in its first year (2016-17), AP Computer Science Principles attracted more students nationwide than any other course debut. Its continued to be popular more than 116,000 students took the AP CSP exam in 2020 double the amount from its first year.

Providing female students with access to computer science courses is critical to ensuring gender parity in the industrys high-paying jobs and to drive innovation, creativity and representationA code.org analysis of 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics data finds women represent just 24% of the 5 million people in computing occupations.

Additionally, according to the press release, female students who take AP CSP in high school are more than five times as likely to major in computer science in college, compared to similar female students who did not take CSP. The study also finds AP CSP students are nearly twice as likely to enroll in AP CSA, and that for most students, AP CSP serves as a stepping-stone to other advanced AP STEM coursework.

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LHS earns diversity award | The Spinal Column - Spinal Column Online