Bloomington Pantagraph, 8/29/2016 (Joel Johnson, Sidhearth Panda, Suraj Sunkara, Jordan Stipp)

From left are BDPA-CIL president Marcus Barbee, BDPA member Theonnie Shields, BDPA-CIL HSCC coordinator Joel Johnson, Normal Community HS students Sidhearth Panda, Suraj Sunkara and Jordan Stipp. The three teens placed in 3rd place in the national HSCC in Atlanta, GA.

NCHS Students Score Third in National Computer Competition. Three Twin City high school students showcased their technology and communication skills at the recent national High School Computer Competition (HSCC) in Atlanta, Ga., netting third place. Joel Johnson is the coordinator and instructor for the local HSCC club, hosted by Black Data Processing Associates Central Illinois Chapter, a non-profit organization.

“We recruit students from Bloomington-Normal high schools to learn at our training academy. The goal of the program is to encourage African Americans to get into IT (Information Technology), but we will educate any student that wants to learn,” said Johnson, who also works as a system analyst at State Farm.

The academy members meet three times a month, October through April. The students learn basic web page construction, java script and database creation for websites.

Read the full Bloomington Pantagraph article.

Bloomington Pantagraph, 1/23/2011 (Javelin Lawrence)

Javelin Lawrence

Heartland Community College to Host BDPA Information Technology Showcase. The Central Illinois chapter of Black Data Processing Associates will sponsor an information technology showcase Jan. 29 at Heartland Community College’s Workforce Development Center, 1500 W. Raab Road. The free event is open to students and community members.

“This event is for more than just minorities,” Javelin Lawrence, vice president of BDPA, said in a statement. “We hope to attract any and all high school students in McLean County who are interested in developing and sharing their IT expertise.”

Read the rest of the Pantagraph article here.