Gilroy’s ‘Aspirations’ computer tech winner

Azucena Rodriguez of Christopher High School was selected among 25 winners throughout the greater San Francisco Bay area for the National Center for Women & Information Technology Award for Aspirations in Computing.
Chosen from 100 students from across the bay area, the young Gilroy woman was honored for her outstanding accomplishments in computing and technology.
She received $250 cash and an engraved plaque for both her and her school, along with an iPad mini donated by Apple and other items from sponsoring organizations. Additionally, award-winners are eligible for scholarships and connected to a broader community of young women in computing.
According to Adrienne Harrell, director of undergraduate student affairs at Jack Baskin School of Engineering, women are disproportionately under-represented in computing fields, despite their advances in academia and the workforce: although they constitute 54 percent of all Advanced Placement (AP) test-takers and earn 57 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, women represent just 19 percent of all AP Computer Science test-takers and account for only 18 percent of bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences.
NCWIT sponsors a national award program and has facilitated the establishment of regional awards that encourage young women to pursue computing. The affiliate is comprised of volunteers from a variety of bay area technical and educational organizations including the Anita Borg Institute, Apple, Baskin Engineering-UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, ETR Associates, Mouse SQUAD Student Tech, Qualcomm, Rackspace, The Tech Museum, 2026 Labs and Santa Clara University.
Award-winners were honored at a special ceremony at the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation March 29.
Following are the winners of the Bay Area Affiliate 2014 NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing:
• Jessenia Aquilar: Mt. Pleasant High School, San Jose
• Saaleha Bey: Oakland Technical High School, Oakland
• Sharon Chen: Henry M. Gunn Senior High School, Palo Alto
• Shiloh Curtis: Laughing Thunder Academy, Sunnyvale
• Caroline Debs: Casstilleja School, Palo Alto
• Joan Hong: Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton
• Claire Huang: Castilleja School, Palo Alto
• Kimberly Lu: Monte Vista High School, Cupertino
• Jarelly Martin: Lighthouse Community Charter School, Oakland
• Shana Mathew: Archbishop Mitty High School, San Jose
• Helena Merk: Pinewood High School, Los Altos Hills
• Anika Mohindra: The Harker School, San Jose
• Melanie Jane Pascual: KIPP: King Collegiate Academy, San Lorenzo
• Evani Radiay-Dixit: The Harker School, San Jose
• Leilani Reyes: Armijo High School, Fairfield
• Azucena Rodriguez: Christopher High School, Gilroy
• Claire Shu: Piedmont Hills High School, San Jose
• Maya Varma: Presentation High School, San Jose
• Angie Wang: Henry M. Gunn High School, Palo Alto
• Jenny Xu: Monte Vista High School, Cupertino
• Congwen (Nancy) Xu: Mission San Jose High School, Fremont
• Michelle Yeung: Lowell High School, San Francisco
• Lily Yu: Mission San Jose High School, Fremont
• Chenxi (Claire) Yuan: Lynbrook High School, San Jose
• Kimberly Zhong: Dublin High School, Dublin