Lemons take first at state tech competition
LaFayette High School’s Andrew Lemons became a state champion last month when he took first place in the Georgia Student Technology Competition.
Lemons, representing the Northwest Georgia region of Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, Polk, Walker and Whitfield Counties, said he was “excited” to earn first place in the Programming Challenge category for grades 9-10.
“To get to the point where I am today, it has taken years of hard work,” he said. “Most of this time was spent working independently to teach myself how to program. The school system has also provided me opportunities to learn coding and that foundation sparked my interest in going to the next level.”
The original state competition had been scheduled for midMarch, but was cancelled after concerns arose over COVID-19. Just days later, however, volunteers with the event began exploring their options and on April 18 it was announced that the GaSTC would be held virtually.
Lemons explained that the Programming Challenge is split into four “problems”, which range from calculating the number of 1’s in the binary representation of a number all the way to the Collatz Conjecture. He said the problems are very difficult and require knowledge of both computer science and advanced mathematics.
“Math is a huge part of this competition,” he added. “Recent math classes in high school have definitely given me the knowledge of different formulas and mathematical theories that I needed to complete these challenges.
“I find the competition to be a fun way to test my skills. Everything that the challenge presented will eventually benefit me in the future, if I decide to pursue a career in computer programming.”