UNCG students and the local chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association will host a daylong celebration on Saturday, Dec. 3, in honor of Computer Science Education Week.

Sponsored by the Greensboro Jaycees, Computing Day is an opportunity for high school students with beginner’s experience in programming to learn more about website design and the programming language Scratch.

Check-in will begin at 8:30 a.m. at UNCG’s Petty Science Building, and the event itself will run 9 a.m.-3 p.m. with lunch provided. Registration – available here – is limited to 75 students.

Lunch will feature a keynote address by Chris Laney, founder and president of Zenergy Technologies, a Greensboro company that focuses on software quality assurance and testing. Laney has 20 years of experience in the IT industry, has run several successful businesses and in 2006 was recognized by the Triad Business Journal as one of its “40 Leaders under 40.”

He is also a pilot and author of the blog “Lessons from the Cockpit: Everyday Wisdom from the Flying Life.” He will talk to attendees about opportunities open to those with technical skills, and how students can find a path to personal satisfaction as well as career success.

The UNCG students leading the event are studying in the Department of Computer Science or the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management. They are part of the university’s Stars Alliance, a group dedicated to increasing the participation of women, under-represented minorities and persons with disabilities in computing disciplines.

Chaya Michel, one of these leaders, wants the event to inspire high school students in the same way she was inspired by Maurie Lockley, one of her teachers at UNCG. Before taking a course led by Lockley, Michel had never seriously considered a career in computing. Now she wants to start her own business in database design and management.

“I’m really intrigued with data,” she says. “It’s amazing how valuable data is for companies, and how companies use data to make business decisions.”

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