The Wildcat Roar, 9/23/15 (Jared Orange)

Jared Orange Competes in Code in D.C. Students came back to Westminster this year with many different, interesting stories. Summer seminars, Camp Westminster, and exciting vacations were only a few of the many tales told around the halls. Yet, one story has been mostly untold: a competition held in Washington D.C. for upcoming web designers (cough, hackers, cough cough). Jared Orange, senior, recently attended this prestigious competition with a group of other students in order to prove they have what it takes to be the coders of the future.

BDPA St. Louis HSCC Team

For those not familiar with this competition, the basic layout goes like this. Teams would have to design a webpage using different programs such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language), JavaScript, PHP, among others. The teams are selected by chapter. The chapter’s sponsor would monitor those who signed up and teach them different skills to use on the computer. At the end of the training period, those who were deemed good were selected to compete with the team.

The team came in sixth place overall, much to Orange’s irritation.

“We lost to teams smaller than us which was pretty bad,” he says. “There were a lot of technical difficulties. I don’t know why. You would kinda expect an IT-centered organization to be on top of their game but it was kinda disorganized.”

Despite the loss, Orange says he would participate in the competition again if given the chance.

“It was just fun,” according to Orange, “and I’m opening my mind to more programming. Now I know things like PHP and now I can do a lot of other cool stuff besides Java.”

Read the full Wildcat Roar article.

STLtoday, 4/12/2013 (Mark Grady)

NAHSE St. Louis Has Joined MPAC. The Minority Professional Associations Collaborative (MPAC) is pleased to announce a new member – The St. Louis Chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) .

“This partnership will enable NAHSE to offer additional networking and professional development opportunities for its members,” says President Andwele Jolly.

MPAC member organizations represent expertise and skill in vastly different areas such as Management, Engineering, Accounting and more.

“These skills and experiences are leveraged to create rich, professional development programs for their organizations as well as enhance their networking opportunities,” says MPAC President Mark Grady.

Read the rest of the STLtoday article.

NOTE: Mark Grady is president of BDPA St. Louis chapter. BDPA is an organizational member of MPAC.

St. Louis American, 3/25/2013 (Imani Anwisye-Mashele)

3rd Annual Salute to Young Leaders. Tomorrow evening (Tues. Mar. 26) The St. Louis American Foundation will present its 3rd Salute to Young Leaders – a networking reception that recognizes a diverse group of 20 outstanding African American professionals under age 40. This impressive class of Young Leaders includes individuals who are leading by example in professional arenas that range from education, banking, engineering, politics and not-for-profit organizations.

The 2013 Young Leader awardees include: Dr. Imani Anwisye-Mashele, Family Medicine Resident (St. Louis University)

Read the full St. Louis American article here.

NOTE: Imani Anwisye-Mashele was on the High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team trained by BDPA St. Louis chapter for the 1999, 2000 and 2001 National HSCC championships.

St. Louis American, 11/7/2012 (BDPA St. Louis, Toni Love)

Local Youth Place 2nd in National Computer Competition. A diverse group of students representing the St. Louis Chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates earned 2nd place in the High School Computer competition at the 2012 National BDPA conference held recently in Baltimore, Maryland. The High School Computer Competition is a national competition of students solving a business problem using web technology. Each St Louis student will receive a $1,000 scholarship.

"Students coming together from different economic, geographical, educational and ethnic backgrounds is diversity at its best," says Toni Love, BDPA’s coordinator.

Read the full article in the St. Louis American.

Eureka-Wildwood Patch, 10/5/2012 (James Fields, Toni Love)

Eureka Student Among St. Louis' Winning Team in National Computer Competition. Eureka High School student James Fields (shown in photo, 3rd from the left) recently competed, along with a group of students representing the St. Louis Chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates, at the 2012 National BDPA conference held in Baltimore, MD.

The St. Louis team earned second place in the BDPA's High School Computer competition, a national contest of students who are challenged with solving a business problem using web-based technology. Fields and the other St. Louis students each received $1,000 scholarships as a result of their achievement.

"Students coming together from different economic, geographical, educational, and ethnic backgrounds is diversity at its best," said Toni Love, BDPA’s coordinator and application development specialist for Ameren.

Read the rest of the Eureka-Wildwood Patch article here.

St. Louis American, 1/5/2012 (John Cooper, Oseyi Ikuenobe, Cherno Jallow, Tiffany Jones, Toni Love, Al Ware)

St. Louis Computer Team Finishes in the Top 10. Students representing BDPA St. Louis Chapter placed in top 10 in the High School Computer Competition at the 2011 National BDPA conference held in Chicago. In addition, one of the students, James Fields, came in 2nd place in the Xbox competition.

The students were sponsored by Monsanto Corporation.

Read the rest of the St. Louis American article.

Diversity/Careers Magaine, 12/1/2011 (Vincent Shorter)

At Monsanto, Retired LTC Vincent Shorter Directs US Business Apps. Vincent Shorter, director of U.S. IT business applications service delivery and support at agricultural company Monsanto (St. Louis, MO), has the "Thirteen Rules of Leadership" of four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell hanging on his office wall. "It can be done" is Shorter's personal favorite ... While in the army Shorter earned a 1995 MS in information and business management from Webster University (St. Louis, MO). He's now a member of African Americans in Monsanto (AAIM) and Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA, Largo, MD).

Read the full Diversity/Careers article.

St. Louis American, 2/10/2011 (Danielle Lee)

Black Family Technology Awareness Week. From 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, February 15, SCOPE - Science and Citizens Organized for Purpose and Exploration - will present its Science & Technology Night celebrating Black Family Technology Awareness Week, an international celebration to encourage more families to get the skills they need to be successful in the 21st century. SCOPE is partnering with organizations such as the St. Louis chapters of the Black Data Processing Associates and the National Society of Black Engineers to bring the full pathway from education to workforce to St. Louis families.

Read the full St. Louis American article here.

Slideshare, 9/20/2010 (Nash Anwar)

Outsourcing. This is the handout provided by Nash Anwar at the September 2010 program meeting hosted by BDPA St. Louis chapter.

Program Meeting: 'Outsourcing' (St. Louis, Sep 2010)

View more presentations from Wayne Hicks.

KDSK Channel 5, 8/10/2010 (John Austin, Patrick McClendon, Christine Miller, Shannon Miller, Akeem Shannon)

Local High School Students Place in Top Five in National Computer Competition. A team of five local high school students representing the St. Louis chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates placed in the top five in the High School Computer competition that took place July 31 in Philadelphia.

The students chosen to represent St. Louis were John Austin (McCleur North), Patrick McClendon (Clyde C. Miller), Christine Miller and Samantha Miller (both from Visitation Academy), and Akeem Shannon (DeSmet Jesuit High School).

Read the rest of the KDSK article here.