Arlington Public Schools aims to build on the success of a coding competition for students that launched last year.
The second annual High School Programming Competition — which is open to both middle and high schoolers — will be held on Saturday, Feb. 7 from 10:45 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Arlington Career Center.
The event will be run by students, with Yorktown High School junior Gabriel Cohen leading the effort with the support of Career Center computer science teachers Jeff Elkner and Chris Jones.
The three students who led the 2025 competition graduated, leaving the effort at risk of sputtering out this year. So Cohen decided to step up.
“I love a challenge, and I also love computer science, so I decided to do it,” Cohen said, noting the support of Elkner, Jones, Arlington Tech program coordinator Michelle Van Lare and his friend and co-chair Brendan O’Reilly.
“A contest like this is a lot of work, but thanks to them, everything is going great,” he said.
Last year, about 60 students participated in the contest, which is open to students of all experience levels.
“Programming contests are a fantastic way for everybody to learn more about computer science,” organizers said. “Both seasoned programmers and absolute beginners are encouraged to come and improve their programming skills.”
Working in teams of up to three students, participants will write code to solve the problems. Allowed programming languages are Python, Java and C++.
Elkner said the programming event “exemplifies the student-led, project-based learning we do at Arlington Career Center.”
“Organized and run completely by students, the contest is encouraging the study of this important field and encourages students to build their skills,” he said.
Cohen said students with even the most rudimentary programming background should consider taking part:
“There are plenty of problems that can be solved with very little programming experience. A programming contest is very much a thinking game just as much as it is a programming game, so your contribution to your team doesn’t rely exclusively on your ability to code. If you know how to code somewhat, but doubt your ability to write out full programs, then rest assured, since you will have a team to help you.”
At the same time, he said, the competition will be valuable for those with extensive experience.
“It can feel awful to expect a challenge only to be stuck in an overly basic environment,” Cohen said. “I can guarantee that, despite our beginner-friendliness, experts will still receive some tough problems.”
Registration is free and open until Thursday, Feb. 5. A pizza lunch will be part of the event, with awards presented at the day’s conclusion.
