Testimonials: The HACC Experience

Katie Kimura

Mililani High School, 12th Grade

2021 HACC Team:  MARS

Future Plans:  Frontend Developer or Software Developer

“Anyone can participate in the HACC and walk away with at least one new piece of information about technology, teamwork, or themselves. As a newcomer last year, I learned about web development hands-on while this year I supported my team members with specialized tasks. In terms of soft skills, gaining a better sense of my capabilities and strengths enables me to use my full potential in future endeavors post-high school.” – Katie Kimura

Ethan Ibanez

Mililani High School, 12th Grade

2021 HACC Team:  Marine Animal Reporting Service (MARS)

Future Plans:  Major in Computer Engineering and work as a Computer scientist or Computer Engineer

“Through participating in HACC, I have gained insight and experience into the world of computer science and real-world development.  In addition, I have been given the opportunity to grow my leadership skills by learning to lead groups of hard-working individuals to accomplish a goal under pressure and time constraints.   On top of this all, the friendships and bonds that I have built with my teammates as a result of the challenges and triumph that we experienced are something that I will truly treasure about the HACC.” – Ethan Ibanez

Anna Campaina

UH Manoa,

2021 HACC Team:  HACCamino

Future Plans:

 “The HACC is a great experience because of the resources, workshops and structure of the HACC that embodies a professional environment,” Anna Campainha said. “It is a taste of the workplace and it’s important to experience something like that during undergrad.”

 

Kevin Chevallier

Hawaii Pacific University

2021 HACC Team:  Paw Trackers

“HACC has been a great experience to enhance what I have been learning in school and apply it to a real world problem for our Hawaii community. I learned important skills in how to work with clients and many team members from a wide range of fields (coding vs graphic design) and abilities. HACC is a great challenge because it pushes us to try new things and somehow master it in less than 4 weeks. I am very thankful for my wonderful team that put in the extra time and effort to complete our project and the HACC administration for making it all possible.” – Kevin Chevallier

Alyssa Lawton

Hawaii Pacific University

2021 HACC Team:  Paw Trackers

“Participating in HACC has been a great opportunity to work on my project management skills and learn new technical skills in web development. Without my team, it would have been impossible to achieve our goals; and I am grateful for each member! It was an honor to represent HPU through this competition and help our local community. I am looking forward to participating next year!” – Alyssa Lawton

The HACC Experience

Watch how the HACC has provided real world experiences to budding technologists – from problem solving to working in a team. This video was produced by the HI Department of Education, in partnership with ETS and the HACC committee.

Teachers who have had their student teams compete in the HACC discuss why this event is important and how they use it as a teaching tool for their students.  It’s not just about putting together a proof-of-concept for the challenges, but also about learning life lessons, such as taking risks and learning through mistakes.

This video was produced by the HI Department of Education, in partnership with ETS and the HACC committee.

 

Educators and students discuss how the HACC prepares participants for the digital economy.

This video was produced by the HI Department of Education, in partnership with ETS and the HACC committee.

2020 HACC Scholarship Recipient

In 2020, the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge provided a scholarship to a Hawaii Pacific University Computer Science Student as a mahalo gift for the University’s strong partnership and support over the years.

Anthony D. Angelo

Hawaii Pacific University

Future Plans:   IT support or work within software engineering programs

 

 

The HACC has more than 10 scholarships available through its partnership with PCATT.  The scholarships are open to HACC participants who made it to Judging and Presentation Day.  Please email [email protected] for more information.