Faculty from the School of Education and Computer Science and Mathematics Department welcomed to campus high school students from the School District of Philadelphia’s Academy at Palumbo on Dec. 6.

Dr. Augusto Macalalag, assistant professor of Education, Dr. Yanxia Jia, associate professor of Computer Science, Dr. Emily Marshall, assistant professor of Mathematics, Dr. Kathy Macropol, associate professor of Comput Science, Dr. Vitaly Ford, assistant professor of Computer Science, and Matt Pellegrini, instructional technology specialist, introduced students to the resources and projects available in college-level computer science and education programs, as well as career opportunities in the fields.

The students participated in a virtual reality lab, a career talk, and a campus tour. Computer Science students Andy Pressman ’19 and Tyler Ramdass ’19 worked with attendees on programming exercises that enabled a Star Wars BB-8 robot to navigate a maze through trial and error.

“I like to program, and I’m planning to go to school for it,” said David Castellanos-Benito, a 17-year-old Academy senior. “It can be stressful trying to figure out what went wrong, but it’s satisfying when you figure it out.”