Hillcrest High School was well represented at this year’s New Zealand Programming Competition (NZPC), with four teams comprising 10 students putting their problem-solving and programming skills to the test.
The NZ Programming Competition challenges teams to solve a series of increasingly difficult programming problems within a set time. Success requires not only strong coding skills, but also logical thinking, perseverance, teamwork and the ability to develop solutions under pressure.
Our Year 12 team of Sam Dick and Aryan Doodhmal performed exceptionally well, successfully solving five problems and finishing 2nd among the Waikato secondary school teams. This was an excellent achievement in a challenging competition and reflected the pair’s strong programming and problem-solving skills.
Our other Hillcrest teams, made up of younger students, also gained valuable experience from the event. Competing against other programmers and tackling unfamiliar problems provides a great opportunity to develop confidence and learn new strategies. With several more years of secondary school ahead of them, these students will have the opportunity to return and build on this experience in future competitions.
It was also fantastic to see former Hillcrest students taking part in the competition, demonstrating that an interest in programming can continue well beyond secondary school.
Congratulations to all 10 students who represented Hillcrest. We look forward to seeing their programming skills continue to develop and hopefully seeing many of them back competing again next year.
