The inaugural season for Cedar Ridge Intermediate’s (CRI) Coding Team has earned them national recognition.

The Youth Coding League, operated by the Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation, is a competitive, fully-packaged team sport designed to introduce middle school and junior high students to computer science and coding. 

Youth Coding League coders compete to win in three categories: Community Favorite, Technical Merit and Most Improved Coder. Community Favorite winners compete through multiple rounds of competition.

Projects in the Technical Merit category are evaluated by industry professionals who score for code proficiency and skill. Competing against 50 different teams nationwide, CRI’s “Those Kids Over There,” coded by Samuel Montoya, Devyn Rombout and Sam Walworth, placed 2nd in the Community Favorite category. Each of these coders win Touchscreen Chromebooks.

In the Technical Merit category, CRI’s “The Callbacks,” coded by Piper Brown, Shiloh Duston and Amelia Williams, took home 7th place. These coders win Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizers. Ari Kennedy was named Most Improved Coder. As a team, CRI finished 7th, and Devyn Rombout was a top coder, coming in at 12th place. 

The Cedar Ridge Intermediate Coding Team is supported through the Missouri Technology Grant and is led by fourth grade teacher Amy Vejraska. “I am so proud of these students and their efforts,” says Vejraska. Planning for a Spring coding team is currently underway.

(Branson School District Press Release)