El Dorado High School was among the top-performing teams at the Biggest AI Hackathon in the Borderland in April, proudly winning one of the challenges.
Sponsored by The STTE Foundation, the event took place from April 25 to 27 at the University of Texas at El Paso, bringing together high school students, university developers, and professional coders to tackle real-world challenges using artificial intelligence.
‘We're pretty happy with how it turned out,” said Damian Wood, a senior at El Dorado High School, about his team’s project.
They were tasked with developing an AI-powered Finance Sidekick that analyzed complex budget spreadsheets, generated customizable dashboards, and provided real-time insights to help school district leaders make informed and transparent financial decisions.
“This event honestly taught me how to use Python,” said Wood, who had no prior experience with the programming language. He also said the competition improved his presentation skills and would look great on his resume.
“It’s really going to help me get a job later on,” Wood added.
The event welcomed 184 participants of all skill levels including 82 first-time hackers. Teams used AI solutions to create software prototypes that addressed challenges in education, health technology, water innovation, economic development, immersive learning and sports management.
El Dorado’s team, Shadow Room, won the Education Theme award.
Participants also took part in workshops where they learned from mentors and experts in AI technology.
Dr. George Thomas, Career and Technical Education director at SISD, said the hackathon gave students hands-on experience in the rapidly growing field of AI technology.
“AI is the future, and if our students don't know how to utilize AI in whatever jobs that they're planning on pursuing, then they're going to be let down,” Thomas said. “We want our students to have the capability of utilizing all the technology as it is provided throughout the community. AI is relatively new still, but it's expanding rapidly.”
During the competition, industry leaders and judges provided feedback, awarded prizes, and helped select teams most likely to become investable startups.
SISD Interim Superintendent James Vasquez judged the competition and was impressed not only by the technical expertise demonstrated by the El Dorado students but also by the dedication of the teachers who helped prepare them for the contest. He said events such as the hackathon expose students to future employers and showcase their capabilities.
“They are solving real-world problems using AI which is something that we're going to be using in the near future,” Vasquez said. “But they're getting a head start, and they're already competing here against college students, and they hung with them. They were just points away from some of these other competitors. I think the more we expose them to these types of events, it’s just going to help them in the long run.”
Josue Banda, a financial literacy teacher at El Dorado, helped coach the Aztec team. He said that even though the team felt nervous about presenting their project, the competition helped boost their confidence in their skills and abilities.
“I want them to believe in themselves that they can achieve their dreams and make a difference in the world,” Banda said.