BRISTOL – The National Center for Women & Information Technology presented Aspiration Awards to female students interested in computing and technology during the organization’s sixth annual awards ceremony, held April 23 at Roger Williams University.
The winners are Cassandra DeBlois of North Kingstown High School; Cynthia Rodrigues and Elizabeth Taylor of Rogers High School; Maura Driscoll of Portsmouth High School; and Tianna Sardelli of Chariho High School. Honorable mentions went to Autumn Leamy and Kendra Ezeama of Smithfield High School, and Emma Daigneault of Rogers High School.
The Educator Award was given to Elizabeth Patterson, who teaches computer programming and game development, among other subjects, at Portsmouth High School.
“The Aspiration Awards event connects the awardees with mentors, introduces them to a community of technical women and also celebrates their passions with personalized trophies,” said W. Brett McKenzie, a professor at RWU’s Mario J. Gabelli School of Business.
The National Center for Women & Information Technology is a nonprofit community of more than 1,100 universities, companies, nonprofits and government groups working to increase girls’ and women’s meaningful participation in computing.
RWU was instrumental in founding the Rhode Island chapter of NCWIT, according to a university press release.
Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributing writer.
