HAVERHILL — When you think of a computer programmer, perhaps what comes to mind is a man sitting at a desk sipping on an energy drink and eating a hot pocket while creating computer code.
But two female students at Haverhill High School will tell you the field of programming isn’t limited to just one gender. Their instructor will tell you that a room filled with all male programmers will not produce as high a quality computer code as a room of both males and females.
To help meet the demand for local jobs in the high tech and health care industries, Haverhill High is adding computer programming to the school’s growing list of vocational programs.
Freshman Alivia Bulman said she became intrigued with the field of computer programming after a visit from Victoria Kelley, Haverhill High’s career academy coordinator, when Alivia was an eighth-grader at Consentino School.
“They passed around information describing the classes, and programming and web development caught my eye,” Alivia said. “I want to do something in the medical field, and I know that a background in technology will be beneficial.”
Three girls and 13 boys are in the new Haverhill High programming and web development class led by James Smyth, a former administrator and computer instructor at Shawsheen Regional Technical High School.
“We’re preparing students for jobs right out of high school as programmers, and for college as well,” Smyth said. “I had students in the past at Shawsheen Tech who went right to work after graduating.”
Haverhill High freshman Nadia Sosa said she learned about the school’s new offering in her first semester at the high school.
“Mr. Smyth was my first semester computer tech teacher and he told me about the new programming class and that I might be interested in it,” Nadia said. “I wasn’t thinking about computers as a career when I was in middle school, but now I see computer programming as a career option.”
Smyth said the field of computer programming is overwhelmingly filled with males, but he would like to change that.
“Studies show that shops with all men put out worse code (computer code) than shops with men and women,” he said. “Women think differently and bring a different perspective.”
Kelley said she wants to begin promoting programming in the elementary schools as well, and will encourage young girls to think about it as a career option.
She said the high school is focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) as viable paths to careers, and also as a way to break the cycle of poverty for students who might not conceive of obtaining a high-paying job in the computer field because of their family’s economic situation.
“Nothing breaks the cycle of poverty than a good job,” Smyth said.
Kelley said the high school isn’t looking to compete with Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, but instead offer students more opportunities while trying to meet a growing demand by the area’s high tech and health care industries.
Haverhill High introduced its new Programming and Web Development program earlier this school year. The program was officially granted vocational status by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Kelley said this new program will prepare students to attend highly competitive universities and colleges, complete certificate programs or immediately enter the high-demand STEM workforce. The program focuses on the fundamentals of information technology, software development, programming concepts, creating databases and web development, she said.
Smyth’s students will work on real-life projects such as creating computer databases for customers. Their first clients will be high school staff members who want a database for curriculum development and tracking.
“They’ll eventually branch out to other customers, and since a database can also be a web page, they will be learning both at the same time,” Kelley said.
This is the second state-approved career vocational education program to be offered at Haverhill High. In January of 2017, Haverhill High’s NAF Academy of Information Technology Program was approved by the state after the program was launched during the 2015-2016 school year. Currently, 51 students are enrolled in the NAF program, including juniors, sophomores and freshmen.
The school’s Healthcare Occupations Program teaches students medical skills in a new medical lab featuring hospital beds, simulation mannequins, EKG machines and other medical devices.
Kelley said the health care program will be offering nursing assistant certifications though the state Department of Public Health, and that it has applied for vocational certification.
“The goal is to prepare students to enter the health care workforce, although we’re encouraging them to continue with their education in healthcare as registered nurses, respiratory therapists or other medical professionals,” she said.
Kelley said that before the vocational programs were created, the high school had to prove there was a need for such workers by the area’s business community.
“We have advisory board members who are turning down work because they don’t have enough qualified employees,” she said. “Whittier (Regional High) does not have the NAF Academy or Programming and Web Development, although they do have a health care program, which corresponds to our program.
“We have Whittier Health Network and Trinity EMS on our advisory board, and they are saying they need more employees than Whittier Tech can supply,” she said.
Kelley noted that not every eighth-grader who applies to Whittier Regional High is accepted, and that students rejected by Whittier typically end up at Haverhill High or another high school.
“These industries have a huge labor need and our vocational education programs are based on labor demand,” Kelley said.
Programming and Web Design is in its first year at Haverhill High, while the health care program is in its second year and NAF is in its third year, Kelley said.