The start of December marked the annual celebration of Computer Science Week December 6 through 12. Students at Sacred Heart Greenwich explored the field of technology through daily challenges and activities. In addition, Ms. Nisreen Cain, the User Experience Engineering Senior Leader in Advertisements at Google, debunked myths about artificial intelligence (AI) and provided insight about the future with this new technology.
The celebration of Computer Science Education Week (CSEd Week) first launched in December 2009. The nationwide program was the result of a collaborative effort between various organizations: the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Anita Borg Institute (ABI), the Computing Research Association (CRA), Google, Intel, and Microsoft. These companies aimed to advance computer science education within K-12 curriculum, according to csedweek.org.
Each year, CSEd Week occurs December 6 through 12, in honor of Ms. Grace Hopper’s birthday, December 9. Ms. Hopper was an American computer scientist and mathematician whose contributions to technology receive celebration during CSEd Week. She invented the first compiler and coined the term “bug,” according to csedweek.org.
The Sacred Heart community’s celebration of CSEd Week lasts from December 3 through 12. Students participated in activities that spark curiosity about computer science. Student also expand their knowledge of computer science by reading articles in their free time and answering questions in daily email challenges.
The first challenge began Sunday, December 3, leading up to the national celebration of CSEd Week. Upper School students had the chance to learn about chatbots and large language models and answer questions, giving their input on both types of AI. The second challenge occurred Monday, December 4. The students learned about the impact of AI on creativity and shared ways they could use this technology as a tool. Mrs. Ana Nystedt, Upper School Computer Science Teacher, led the effort to bring CSEd Week to Sacred Heart in 2019. She commented on the start of celebrating computer science and how the annual celebration has grown.
“I started celebrating Computer Science Week four years ago at Sacred Heart with fun challenges and prizes to raise awareness,” Mrs. Nystedt said. “The whole point to start this celebration was to motivate students to learn more about computer science, also to encourage students to be curious to understand how programs/apps work, and be creators and not just passive users of technology.
In the middle of CSEd Week at Sacred Heart, Upper Students students and faculty welcomed Ms. Cain as a guest speaker Wednesday, December 6. In addition to her work as an engineer, she advances the inclusion of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields through nationwide nonprofits. Ms. Cain explained the impact of AI and debunked the misinformation surrounding the developing technology. Drawing upon her experience with AI as an engineer, she commented on how AI can supplement human innovation.
“As we have moved through human existence, there have been new advancements in technology, and as a result humans have questioned their role with the new change,” Ms. Cain said. “Now we are in a digital AI revolution, and we are left questioning how AI will impact our jobs. We have to view AI as a tool to support us and to be confident in the fact that human creativity and emotion cannot be replaced.”
Following Ms. Cain’s presentation, Upper School students had two more days of challenges, which focused on identifying different parts of the computer and coding mechanics. Mrs. Nystedt announced the final winners of the CSEd Week challenges December 11 with a wide range of prizes. Among the winners was sophomore Nidhi Ray, who won a visit to the Watson Research Center of International Business Machines (IBM). Nidhi commented on her interest in computer science and why she decided to participate in the challenges.
“I really enjoy computer science and thought I could use this week to further my learning within the field,” Nidhi said. “The challenges were a fun outlet where I could display my creative coding skills.”
Featured Image by Michaela White ’26
