Atwood Innovation Plaza Celebrates National STEM Day with Southern Utah Code Camp

By Erin Severeid

The Southern Utah Code Camp celebrated its 10th year on National STEM Day at the Atwood Innovation Plaza Grand Opening at DSU.

Coders had the chance to show off their skills with a time limit of only 24 hours.

Over 400 people participated in the camp. The camp was divided into three competition groups: novice, collegiate and industry. The youngest participant was in second grade!

Curtis Larsen, associate professor of computer science at DSU, said, “It’s important for kids to find what isn’t their interest as much as what is.” For some, it’s a life-changing experience that opens up a world of opportunities, and for others, it’s a chance to try something new, have fun and walk away having learned something.

The winners received a medal, but the real prize was the bragging rights! The overall industry category winner received the 2019 “Code Cup.”

Winners were as follows:

Rookie Division Winners

  1. Purpl Pork – Nelo Acosta, Mikey Foster, Braxton Spencer
  2. Daniel’s Team – Daniel Jin
  3. Coding Creeps – Elijah Mair, Charlie Matheson, Ter Jaeger

Novice Division Winners

  1. The Four Waffles – Jaymii Bonadurer, Toshi Mowery, Joseph Fife, Kayle Shurtliff
  2. Not Jerome – Damian Thornley, Blake Ehlers, Josh Harris, Jerome Nickle
  3. Emulators Suck – Walter Shewmake, Spencer Smith

Intermediate Division Winners

  1. ScanBand.io – Bo Staheli, Belle Staheli, Trent Staheli
  2. WCSDit – James Price, Tyler Lewis
  3. Scatter Bros – Macuyler Dunn, Lora Klein, Jason Schallenberger

App Category Winner

  1. Saber – Damen Maughan, Jack Saller, Jessica Cserepes, Kacy Stocks

Game Category Winner

  1. The Hamstermaniacs – Cody Mace, Deyge Falanai, Wayde Mecham

Maker Category Winner

  1. White Lotus Coders – John Rice, Josh Ferguson, Jared Ferguson

The Southern Utah Code Camp is held once a year and welcomes everyone to participate for a fee of only $10. So, next year, if you’re feeling that you need to get your code on, you know where to go!

To learn more about Atwood Innovation Plaza visit their website.