Battlefield CASIIT

CASIIT is accepting new students to start in the SY2020-2021. Applications close on 1-Feb-2020. The requirements of CASIIT are:

• Enroll in CASIIT course each year
• Score 2.5 GPA+ in CASIIT course
• Maintain 2.5+ GPA
• Satisfactory+ Effort and Conduct on EVERY Report Card
• Complete CASIIT Portfolio for each CASIIT course

Current members with good standing remain members of CASIIT.

Center for Applied Science, Interactive, and Information Technology (CASIIT) will host INFORMATION SESSIONS for NEW students on:

• 3-Dec-2020 @ 7:00 pm
• 7-Jan-2021 @ 7:00 pm

Come on out and hear details on the current status of our programs. Bring interested students in joining the program.

To attend CASIIT Night, you must complete a Zoom registration in advance. You will then receive a separate email that will have a personal zoom link to attend CASIIT Night. Place this link on your calendar.

There are many reasons why you should join CASIIT! The CASIIT program gives students an opportunity to learn many skills helpful for the future, obtain certifications, gives students a head start in IT, and gives an opportunity for students to work with teachers that have had real life experience in IT industries!

Some quotes from CASIIT Students that are in the program:

"It has taught me a lot about computers and I know that will be useful for the future. It has also helped me with my other assignments at school because I know how to do stuff now:) Thank you!" - First year CASIIT Student (Information Technology)

"CASIIT has benefitted me SO much this year! It has helped give me so many opportunities to learn! It also makes my other classes a lot easier because I've been learning about files, and organization, and more about my laptop, and all other sorts of useful information!" - First Year CASIIT Student (Information Technology)

"It has expanded my knowledge greatly on everything computers, It has also benefited me in my everyday life and they way I look at computers and operate them" - Second Year CASIIT Student (Information Technology)

"The program opened doors for me and helped me find new areas of study I am interested in." - Fourth year CASIIT Student (Interactive Technology)

"The CASIIT program has benefitted me by giving me the ability to be proficient in an array of different adobe software's, as well as being able to express myself digitally." - Fourth year CASIIT Student (Interactive Technology)

"The CASIIT Program has been beneficial because it has educated me on how to use all of the different Adobe apps like Photoshop, that could be very useful to me in the field I want to pursue. Not many other students get the chance to learn about these devices so I also believes it gives students of the CASIIT program an advantage." - Third Year CASIIT Student (Interactive Technology)

"CASIIT has benefitted me by learning a new skill that I can build upon to use in my unknown career, though I don't entirely know what I want to do in the future, I have knowledge in IT Web Tech, and it can be used to help make magazines or broadcasting. Being a journalist or something along the lines is a interest of mine I hope to learn more!" - First Year CASIIT Student (Information Technology)

"I loved having the opportunity to explore each path and discover my interests to pursue in college." - Fourth year CASIIT Student (Applied Science, Interactive Technology, Information Technology)

"It has helped me learn skills I will need in the real world for respectable jobs such as Java and Cisco. It has also taught me how to critically think, problem solve and improve upon my STEAM expertise in a fun and interactive manner." - Third Year CASIIT Student (Applied Sciences, Information Technology)

"Helped me learn new things/skills that opens doors for a lot of careers in the future." - Second Year CASIIT Student (Applied Science and Information Technology)

"The CASIIT program is perhaps the best opportunity I've been given in my life. I'm so grateful to have been able to take classes in all 3 sections of CASIIT, and I've learned so much about graphic design principles, Programming languages and structure, Databases, and Networking, and taking college and AP classes have been an amazing experience! I continue to learn more every day, and I'm super thankful for the opportunity to be in the CASIIT program!" - Third Year CASIIT Student (Applied Science, Interactive Technology, and Information Technology)

The CASIIT SharePoint site is used to manage CASIIT Student requirements. This site will include:

• Portfolio Management
• CASIIT Volunteer Hours Management
• CASIIT Student Agreements

Student Portfolio Requirements All Students:

• Full year class: one project per semester
• Semester class: one project
• You must have a C+ or better in a course to include the course in your portfolio.

• Only courses that have a portfolio entry will be counted toward an CASIIT medal.

Student Portfolio Requirements - Seniors:

• All portfolio requirements met by last day of Semester 1
• Your final portfolio includes a professional resume with your volunteer hours
  

Format:

• File name: GradYr Last, First CourseN.PDF example: 2020 Drake, Gail DB1.PDF
  
• PowerPoint works well, some students have used Word.
• Submit only PDF files. {convert prior to submitting}
  

Pages:

• First page - Include: Your name, year of graduation, course name, year of course and faculty name.
• Then pages for your project
• Final page - what did you learn (do not explain the project, talk about your lessons learned from the project/course)

Resume:

• Name and Personal contact information, for example; Email address (physical address not required)
• CASIIT courses, college courses (dual-enrollment and/or AP)
• Professional certifications
• Volunteer hours / community service / work
• Honors or awards you have received
• Files name: GradYr Last, First – Resume.PDF example: 2020 Drake, Gail Resume.PDF

Do you understand your CASIIT Courses?

Would you like to earn CASIIT Volunteer Hours?

- 10 hours of tutoring = 1 year of Volunteer hours.

CASIIT Tutoring sessions will continue through December. Sessions are Wednesdays at 3:30 pm. The room will close at 3:35 pm, those that need support must arrive on-time.

For those that would like support, you must complete a Zoom registration in advance. You will then receive a separate email that will have a personal zoom link to attend tutoring. Place this link on your calendar.

This month's student spotlight is Saahas Gowda! As a junior at Battlefield High School, Saahas is quite the accomplished individual, and has helped the school in numerous ways, and we are extremely honored to have him in the CASIIT program! Saahas is the past SCA Vice President (2018-2020) and is this year's SCA Class President for the class of 2022, and in addition to this, he is the President of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)'s Battlefield Chapter, the Captain of the Debate team, the Co-President of the STAR program, and is a member of various other clubs, such as Math Honor Society and Key Club. He is also an accomplished CASIIT student, having taken many of the courses in the Applied Sciences sector of CASIIT.

In addition to his leadership responsibilities at the school, during quarantine, Saahas was able to make a dream come to reality: he founded his own 501©(3) non-profit foundation, Confidence Capital in order to offer free mentoring to middle and high school students in public speaking, debate, and Model UN! Here are a few words from Saahas about the CASIIT Program:

"Technology is so important for the future; so, I am glad that I got a good foundation in IT

and computer programming from the CASIIT Program. The digital world is a reality, as

these past few months have shown us, and CASIIT has helped me better prepare for it. I

would strongly recommend that every Battlefield student consider taking at least one

CASIIT course during their four years of high school, even if they are not interested in

pursuing a career directly related to IT and computer programming."

CASIIT is now presenting Lunch and Learn Mondays! Lunch and Learn Mondays are weekly seminars at noon on your asynchronous workday. These seminars will host a variety of events such as career panels, student tips and tricks, and many in depth concepts of information technology and applied sciences you won’t find in your classes. These will be delivered by both students and professionals.

Upcoming schedule for Lunch and Learns:

• 07-Dec-2020: Career Panel – Software Development
  

• - Mr. Knight
  - Mr. O'Connell
  - Ms. Meyyappan
  - Mr. Kuzmick
  - Mr. Cantarella

• 14-Dec-2020: Associates of Science in Information Technology and Dual Enrollment presentation

• 04-Jan-2020: Career Panel – Networking and Infrastructure

Register in advance for Lunch and Learn using the button below.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Add this to your calendar.

Do you have a topic you’d like to present during Lunch and Learn Mondays to earn CASIIT volunteer hours? Fill out the form and let us know what you are thinking!

Are you a parent in the software development or networking and infrastructure field who would like to speak and answer questions during our career panels? Fill out the form and let us know if you are interested!

Please use the directions in the link below to your textbook assessment and make your payment.

1. TUTOR YOUR FELLOW CASIIT STUDENTS: Earn volunteer hours by tutoring your fellow CASIIT Students in CASIIT courses. Tutoring will be 3:30 - 4:30 pm on Wednesdays. Tutoring in 10 sessions will earn your Volunteer Hours for a school year. Use the "I WILL TUTOR" link below to sign up to tutor. Tutoring sessions will start on 11-Nov-2020. (refer to newsletter section regarding CASIIT tutoring)

Teachers can pair students that can tutor and students that would like to be tutored in their courses and issue the Volunteer certificate.

2. LUNCH AND LEARN MONDAYS: Present a session on Lunch and Learn Mondays and earn Volunteer Hours for both your planning and presenting time. (refer to newsletter section Lunch and Learn Mondays)

3. HOUR OF CODE: Hour of Code is a global movement in 180+ countries. 1,061,671,626 students have participated. This year Hour of Code is 7-Dec-2020 -> 13-Dec-2020. Battlefield High School will do Hour of Code during classes and at 3:30 on 9-Dec-2020. Earn volunteer hours by hosting a virtual group of students (of any age) and do an Hour of Code together. (refer to newsletter section on Hour of Code)

4. CREATE A STEM ACTIVITY for others to LEARN: Creating STEM lessons is as much fun as doing them! Be a creator and earn Volunteer Hours. (refer to newsletter section Outreach)

5. JOIN THE CASIIT NEWSLETTER TEAM!: Joining the CASIIT Newsletter Team is a great fun way to earn CASIIT volunteer hours! Our meetings are on Mondays at 11. Email either Professor Drake at drakegd@pwcs.edu or Akshita Ramesh at ramesha22@pwcs-edu.org in order to inquire more about joining the team that's created this very newsletter you're reading!

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If you volunteer to work assisting others in a STEM setting, you may have your Volunteer Hours approved by the host of the event. Please use the CASIIT Volunteer Hours form in the button below. Please load all signed forms into your CASIIT SharePoint site (you must be logged into your Office365 Account to access).

Since last April, a group of Battlefield students have been creating STEM Lessons that have been distributed to our local elementary schools and to the National Capitol Girl Scouts. Many teachers have loved the lessons and look forward to them. Creating a lesson would be a fun way to earn your CASIIT Volunteer Hours. Below is a link to the template of the lessons. Feel free to be creative. We will share back with you how your lesson is shared.

Email your completed lesson to drakegd@pwcs.edu and henderGC21@pwcs-edu.org

On 26-Oct-2020 and again on 14-Dec-2020 during "Lunch and Learn" students and parents had the opportunity to learn more about the Associate of Science in Information Technology program offered by NOVA with dual enrollment courses at Battlefield through a series of virtual information sessions.

The program, offered by Northern Virginia Community College in conjunction with Battlefield, would allow for requirement fulfilling students to potentially transfer into programs at various Virginia colleges and universities once out of high school.

One important piece of information provided in these meetings was the difference between the 2019 and 2020 versions of this program, mainly the specific classes that would need to be taken for the fulfillment of the Information Technology requirements of each degree.

In addition, details on transfer to programs at the following universities were given:

-George Mason University (B.S. Information Technology)

-Virginia Tech (B.S. Cybersecurity Management and Analytics, B.S. Business Information Technology)

-George Washington University (B.S. Information Technology, B.S. Cybersecurity)

Other topics covered included the processes of transferring of AP/CLEP scores for college credit, obtaining credits for prior learning, and completing required paperwork for the program.

Zoom links can be found in the email sent out or by emailing Professor Drake at drakegd@pwcs.edu

Three artwork pieces were chosen to be displayed in the Off the Wall Competition, a juried art show. The first piece was created by Isabel Lee. The second and third pieces were created by Nicholas Austin-Wakefield. Both students are in AP Studio Art and both are also students of the Interactive Technology strand in the CASIIT program.

The show will take place at the ART factory, 9419 Battle Street, Manassas, VA 20110 and will be viewable to the public on Saturdays from 10 am-2 pm. Winners will be announced on January 9, 2021. If chosen, their artwork will travel to Lockheed Martin and be displayed at Lockheed Martin from January 21-February 28, 2021.

ILITE's Catapult Competition was a success!

A little over a week ago, eight teams competed on the new turf field in three different events to see whose catapult reigns supreme. First, there were two distance tests- one to launch a ping-pong ball and the other to launch a golf ball. Then the teams tested their accuracy and flung the balls into hula hoops.

To top off the event, the Sahlbergs brought their trebuchet in a grand finale and launched a ball into the field goal!

Congratulations to all the teams who participated!

Coming up, ILITE is hosting a virtual IROC event through Twitch! Tune in to the livestream on December 5th to catch some highlights from IROC events over the past few years, hilarious and exciting commentary, and celebrate ten years with IROC! Teams from all over the Chesapeake can send in videos, and the team with the best commentary will win a prize! If you have any questions, please contact us team1885@gmail.com!

Don't miss out! Come join us this Saturday, December 5th, and let's have some fun!

On November 21, students that took part in the ILITE Robotics Catapult Competition had the chance to demonstrate the capabilities of their creations! Over the course of several weeks, teams had to get creative to design and build catapults with household materials to launch golf and ping pong balls. Students produced functional and effective catapults that rose to the challenges presented!

The Winners are as follows:

Distance Overall High Score - Ping Pong - Team Angry Birds

Distance Overall High Score - Golf Ball - Team Angry Birds

Distance Average High Score - Ping Pong - Team Ballista

Distance Average High Score - Golf Ball - Team Noodles

Accuracy Overall High Score - Team TBD

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Last month Battlefield had several teams compete in the first round of CyberPatriot! CyberPatriot is a year-long national cybersecurity competition created by the Air Force Association. Battlefield’s five teams have all been training since the beginning of the school year on topics that include Windows and Linux Operating System Security, Cybersecurity Concepts, Network Security and configuration with Cisco Packet Tracer. CyberPatriot consists of multiple rounds of competition with a national final competition reserved for the top 10 teams in the whole nation each year.

In past years during a competition each team would meet at Battlefield to work together during the six-hour competition, but this year each team had to find new way to work as a group. Teams met virtually and collaborated over Zoom and other calling services for the duration of the competition. Be sure to congratulate the teams on their work and wish them luck for the rest of this year!

Computational thinking helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic, and creativity. And technology is transforming every industry on the planet. Students today should learn how to create technology, not just use it. By starting early, they’ll have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path. Hour of Code is a global movement in 180+ countries. 1,061,671,626 students have participated.

Hour of Code week is 7-Dec-2020 -> 13-Dec-2020. Battlefield will participate in this event during this week in class and on 11-Dec-2020 @ 3:30 pm. Register with the Tutoring Link (see Tutoring section of this newsletter) to attend.

Women in Technical Careers (WITC) brings casual, interactive and informative career discussions to female students, grades 9 – 12. Career presenters include women in the following careers: engineers, chemists, physicists, technical writers, IT specialists, technical marketing technicians and math specialists.

For more information, email k-12programs@micron.com

2020-21 WITC Scheduled events:

All events will be held 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Mountain Time

• Wednesday, December 2nd

• Additional dates will be added

Somaya Faruqi, the robotics coach of the all-girl robotics team, The Afghan Dreamers (FRC Team 7329), has been recognized as one of the top 100 BBC Women in the world!

If you're interested in Cybersecurity, this opportunity's for you! Teachcyber.org has released multiple no-cost resources, one of which is Introduction to the Challenge of Cybersecurity"! This course is built for high schoolers, and is a great opportunity to learn something new. The pilot orientation is being held on November 16th, and you should email ask@TeachCyber.org with the subject line "November Orientation" in order to make your interest known about the orientations.

NOVA is hosting multiple STEM programs/events! Take this great opportunity to learn more about STEM! There are a variety of opportunities for everyone, including STEM Seminars ('STEMinars), more information about STEM careers, and more!

On December 4-6, a virtual code day will be held through Discord and twitch (two gaming social medias). If you're interested in coding, take this opportunity to experience something new!

PWCS is part of the Northern Virginia Node of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, also known as CCI. They have lots of resources concerning Cybersecurity and lots of information on careers, internships, and much more on their website, be sure to check it out!

Are you interested in robotics and coding? If so, listen up! CoderZ is an online STEM learning environment that provides both a curriculum and learning platform as well as running the largest virtual coding and 3d robotics competitions! Check out their website and their curriculum!

Are you interested in cybersecurity? If so, you might be interested in CyberStart America! Launching on October 30th, 2020, the CyberStart game is for all people in grades 9-12, and is free to all students. Learn something new by taking advantage of this opportunity!

It’s back! The largest student mainframe competition in the world has returned for its 16th year in a row. This unique, virtual contest is open globally to all students 13 years and above who are interested in gaining skills in a real-world, enterprise computing environment. Check it out if you want to experience a new challenge!