News Release

Students from South Panola High School and North Panola High School competed in the fifth regional C Spire C3 coding challenge that pitted teams from 30 public and private schools across 24 counties competing for scholarships and tech-related prizes.

Clinton High School won first place in the competition at C Spire’s Ridgeland headquarters on Thursday, March 21, with Madison Central High School placing second and Long Beach High School finishing in third place. The first-place team members won $2,000 scholarships each, while second and third place team members received $1,500 and $1,000 scholarships each.

This was the fifth regional coding challenge convened by C Spire, a Mississippi-based wireless, technology and broadband company, since 2017 to better prepare students for a high-tech future by encouraging and enabling them to pursue a degree and career in information technology and computer science.

The C Spire coding challenge featured teams of up to four students and at least one adviser from each school who used critical thinking and problem-solving skills to solve a fun-fresh computer coding challenge during the daylong competition. Four previous competitions since April 2017 have involved 88 high schools and more than 380 students in 49 counties.

C Spire employees with IT backgrounds and experience volunteered and helped each team. Pepper, a four-foot tall humanoid robot from Softbank Robotics America with a tablet for a chest, also was on hand interacting with students and other guests participating in the competition. Lobaki, a Jackson-based virtual reality firm, provided demonstrations throughout the day.

Workers with a background in computer science are in high demand and short supply in Mississippi. Employers currently have nearly 1,000 unfilled job openings due to the serious shortage of trained, qualified IT workers.  The average entry- level salary for qualified junior IT workers is more than $50,000 a year, 30 percent higher than the statewide average.

The company-sponsored coding challenges and support for other public and private programs like the Base Camp Coding Academy and a recent partnership with Mississippi State University Research and Curriculum Unit’s Center for Cyber Education are designed to help C Spire deliver on its promise to help build a 21st century technology workforce in its region.

C3 is part of a broader C Spire Tech Movement initiative designed to move communities forward through technology with a focus on broadband access, workforce development and innovation.