Problem solvers: Freshman coders capture regional crown
The coding club practices various types of code at CHS9 after school on Friday. The coding club was formed by CHS9 student Mukund Raman and his father, Kalyan Raman, at the beginning of the school year.
January 6, 2020
As the clock runs, their fingers rapidly type lines of code. All too soon, the clock stops, and the students huddle to congratulate each other for their effort. They anxiously wait as the winners are called.
CHS9 students Madhav Thamaran, Arjun Inamdar and Mukund Raman participated in the Plano East coding competition on Nov. 16 at Plano East Senior High. The competition consisted of two rounds in which they picked any method of code to solve problems and had an individual written test.
“I was a little nervous because of the pressure from the competition,” Inamdar said. “Other than that, it was pretty fun.”
Being new to coding competitions, the students did not expect to take home the first-place trophy.
“I was very happy because that was one of my first competitions,” Thamaran said.
The three students worked together to take home first prize in the beginning round, but there was one student in particular who shined in the second round. Raman placed fifth in the individual hands-on written test of the competition, bringing home another win for CHS9.
“I was honestly surprised,” Mukund said. “Most of the questions were really hard.”
Raman’s father, Kalyan Raman, has been teaching him how to code since he was in middle school. Together, they started the coding club at CHS9 and now, Mr. Raman coaches the students every Friday. The club is sponsored by Andrea Cook, the computer programming educator at CHS9.
“I thought that I could expand it to the other students as well, that’s why I got interested and started to teach them,” Mr. Raman said.
The coding club mainly focuses on Java and Python code, two common types of coding.
“I like to code because I feel like I can create something that others can use,” Mukund said.
The members think coding is very important for the developing world. The three members were encouraged to compete for the opportunity to display their hard work and talent.
“The world runs on code now,” Thamaran said. “I needed a way to showcase that I knew how to program.”
The coding club is an all-inclusive club that anybody can join.
“I want it to be like anybody can come here and learn to code,” Inamdar said. “It’s like an open community [for] computer science.”
According to Mr. Raman, coding is an essential skill that will give the students a head start on finding well-paying jobs in the future.
“[Information Technology] must exist,” Mr. Raman said. “It is [needed for] high paying jobs. If all these learners are good with analytical skills, it is definitely going to benefit them in the future.”
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