Many kids outgrow the coding summer camps and their school’s minimal CS introductions, which is precisely why we started Breakout Mentors over 10 years ago. We are able to challenge students with fun projects over months and years.
Once you reach high school, there are often CS courses you can take, but what else? What are the interesting applications of coding to keep students hooked as well as set them apart from the crowd? What are the next steps?
We encourage our advanced students to either try USACO competitive programming or Machine Learning. Don’t know much about them? Luckily we have webinars for each coming soon!
Machine Learning for High Schoolers — What It Is + Projects to Stand Out
Machine Learning is a type of Artificial Intelligence and quickly becoming the future of coding. ML is, like regular programming, a way to get computers to complete a specific task. But instead of telling the computer exactly how to do it, you provide a lot of data and feed it through a “learning” algorithm. It learns the pattern and the next time you provide input data, it is able to produce an accurate output.
This creates the possibility of impressive real-world projects, including large capstone projects worthy of writing about on college applications — especially because data isn’t limited to numbers or spreadsheets. Data can be images, videos, audio, and more. For example, making an app that converts handwritten text into digital form using images of the text for automated bank check processing. Or one that detects pneumonia using chest x-rays to help doctors provide better diagnoses. Once you start seeing the world as data, the options are endless.
The webinar is intended for both parents and the student themselves. Come learn why ML might be the right next step! It will be Wednesday, April 20th at 5pm PDT, grab your tickets here.
High School Competitive Programming — USACO and Beyond
USACO is a thrilling opportunity for coders who love puzzles. Plus, it is a prestigious measuring stick and way to prove your knowledge by advancing through Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum divisions. Only a few thousand US high school students each year reach Silver and only a few hundred reach Gold!
In order to advance, you have to write efficient code that can solve the puzzle within the time requirement. You’ll learn college-level algorithms and data structures. Most importantly with 1-on-1 mentoring you’ll also learn the problem solving techniques, how to gain the correct insights from the problems, and tips for implementing solutions from an experienced competitor.
The webinar is intended for both parents and the student themselves. Come learn what an algorithm is and the types of problems you must solve to advance. It will be Saturday, April 16th at 4pm PDT, grab your tickets here.
Sign Up for Summer Coding
Our Summer 1-on-1 Deep Dive enrollment is currently open for Machine Learning, USACO, and more. Please read this article for more info and for the link to sign up.