On Sunday September 18, 2016, Stamford High School hosted its first STEM ( science, technology, engineering and mathematics) hackathon. The Hackathon was presented by Stamford Public Schools (SPS). The Radical Rams (AITE) came in first place, followed by Allardice (SHS students Malcolm Tom, Ismael De Los Santos and Mike Rosinsky) in second and Team Vikings (WHS) in third. It’s a very unique way in which students work together to express their creativity and interest in STEM based events, such as coding. The hackathon isn’t just a way for students to compete and win prizes, but it aims to expand students’ knowledge toward working in groups and their talent in coding and imagination.

This year, the task was to create either a web page or a computer game to present to the judges. The judges were looking for creativity, functionality, teamwork and the full coding behind their web page or game. Some students had difficulties that they had to work through, like Griffith Manchanda, a sophomore at Stamford High School, who said, “I have problems and I need answers.” At times, they would have to rely on their team mates for most of the answers.

Hugh Seaton, the creator of Stamford Tech Week, said, “I’m one of the guys that put together this fantastic Hackathon. I’ll tell you it’s been really great, all the kids are great, we have a ton of mentors. We have companies like Pitney Bowes that are helping us out, it’s been a great day.”

During the STEM event, there were many exhibits going on for the Tech Expo. One of the most popular during the expo was the The Virtual Reality (V.R.). There were two different versions of the V.R., both use goggles, but one would stream videos, while the other would require two joysticks that would not only track your every move, but would also be used to draw images and shapes. Another exhibit that was presented at the STEM event was by The United States Marine Corp; it showcased their unique robots that can track many things and put it up for display for the event’s atendees to watch.

Stamford High Principal Ray Manka described it as an amazing experience not only for the competitors, but for everyone.  “I think that for an inaugural event it was certainly a good showing, we had a good contingent of Stamford High School students. There’s always some nerves that might be associated with a competition, regardless the level or the content, being that it was new, and some people might not knowing what it was, I thought that it was a good turnout. There were nine teams that were competing, and teams ranged from three to eight people in a group. At the end of the day when we had the rewards presentation in the new gym. There were a lot of happy people, smiling faces, and for a first event it went great,” Manka said. Even though there was a good turn out, hopefully it inspires even more future hackers to compete and represent Stamford High School for the next Hackathon in February 2017 at Westhill High School.