Left to Right: Sue Matheny, Dan McElroy, William Matheny, John Matheny and John Giroir
Lightning strikes again in Ripley, West Virginia. William Matheny, a 15 year old sophomore student at Ripley High School is the second student from that school this year to have completed an Advanced Tech Degree, a certification that he earned through his efforts with the West Virginia Coding Club. On Tuesday, May 17, William and his family attended the Ripley City Council meeting to be presented with his Advanced Tech Degree by the Mayor of Ripley.
Dan McElroy, President of the WV Coding Club, said, “William is our third student since the WV Coding Club’s start just a few years ago, who has completed the Advanced Tech Degree. This certification is recognized nationwide and worldwide by Tech companies and is a true key to unlocking the door to a career in coding.”
All three WV Coding Club students who have completed the Advanced Tech Degree were 15 years old at the time. It is important to note that over 99% of those that complete this program are adults, so it is an extremely rare event for students this young to complete this program.
William credits his participation in the WV Coding Club in preparing him for this significant achievement (and of course, support from his parents). The WV Coding Club not only helps to teach students how to code, but also how to solve problems, which is a needed skill in most any career and in life.
The WV Coding Club also incorporates a regular program of speakers who share not only what they currently do, but the path they took to get there, sharing advice and helping the students learn about a broad range of careers. The WV Coding Club blog contains posts of past speakers, that range from working at global companies, like Google and Amazon to smaller firms, some in West Virginia. All the speakers have contributed greatly to the benefit and development of our WV Coding Club students.
The WV Coding Club also has a coding team that has won the Congressional App Challenge three years in a row! This is considered to be the most prestigious student computer prize in our nation. The team is currently working towards their forth submission this year and continue to find ways to hone their coding skills.
Congratulations, William on this very special achievement and we look forward to a bright future for you!
Keep Coding!
Mayor Carolyn Rader, City of Ripley, congratulating William Matheny before presenting him with the Advanced Tech degree, as his parents Sue and John Matheny and WV Coding Club President Dan McElroy look on.