Cabrini Earns First College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award

Cabrini High School has earned the first College Board AP ^® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles. Schools honored with the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award have expanded girls’ access in AP Computer Science courses. Out of more than 18,000 secondary schools worldwide that offer AP courses, Cabrini is one of only 685 to accomplish this.
 
A teacher for nearly ten years, four years at Cabrini, Caitlin Duplantier was instrumental in initiating the AP Computer Science Principles course and has been teaching it since its installation. “I previously taught Cabrini’s computer applications elective when College Board announced they were starting a new AP course that sampled several programming languages, instead of focusing solely and deeply in one language,” said Duplantier. “Previously, the only computer science AP courses were pretty intense and required a lot of previous knowledge and practice. I believe the AP Computer Science Principles course was created to increase interest and involvement of varying students in the field of computer science.”
 
“By inviting many more young women to advanced computer science classrooms, Cabrini has taken a significant step toward preparing all students for the widest range of 21st-century opportunities,” said Trevor Packer, College Board senior vice president of the AP Program. “We hope this inspires many other high schools to engage more female students in AP Computer Science and prepare them to drive innovation.”
 
Regarding the news, Cabrini’s Principal Yvonne Hrapmann said, "We’re honored by this recognition and are proud of our female students studying computer science for their achievements. Also, Caitlin has demonstrated initiative during the implementation and growth of the AP Computer Science course.  She has the passion and desire to expose our young women to the opportunities for this growing and in-demand field for females.”

“There’s not many women in the field of computer science; that’s why it’s so important that Cabrini has given students the option to take AP Computer Science,” said Cabrini senior Kennedi White. “The course taught by Ms. Duplantier exceeded all of my expectations. I learned several programming languages, created games and a website and earned college credit. It was by far one of my favorite AP courses that I have taken at Cabrini High School.”
 
“Receiving this recognition was very surreal,” said Duplantier. “I’ve always been the type of person to do whatever was needed to help students and the school, so even though I had no prior experience with computer science, I just dove in head first. Over the past three years of teaching this class, not only have I learned a lot, but I think the students that took the class really enjoyed experiencing the field of computer science that most of them had no experience with either. I think that’s what this award is really about, allowing students, specifically female students, the opportunity to get involved in a field they probably would not have experienced otherwise. I’m happy to be a small part of making that possible.”
 
Providing female students with access to computer science courses contributes to gender parity in the industry’s high-paying jobs and drives innovation, creativity, and competition. Cabrini junior Jen Bru said, “I enjoyed making my own codes and programming my own websites and games. The process of creating original programs was really interesting to me, and the class overall piqued my interest in pursuing jobs in the near future in the computer science field.”