SBU High School Programming Competition

Southwest Baptist University is hosting a competition for high school students on April 11, 2025. Teachers may register one or more teams of two to three students for the Programming Contest, one team of three to five students to compete in the App Design Competition and/or up to three teams of two to three students to compete in the Cybersecurity Competition.

Registration and Fees

Teachers may register one or more teams of two to three students for the Programming Contest, one team of three to five students to compete in the App Design Competition and/or up to three teams of two to three students to compete in the Cybersecurity Competition. One-person teams are not allowed.

The competition fee is $10 per individual (students and coaches) attending the competition from a school. The fee will be used to purchase awards, trophies, and T-shirts.

You may pay the competition fee online at the time of the registration. If you prefer to pay by cash or check, enter the promo code "CHECK" at the checkout page of the registration process. You may then submit cash or check payment (make checks payable to Southwest Baptist University with memo note of "Programming Competition"). All fees must be paid prior to the competition (but could be the morning when you arrive).

Judging and Ranking

Programming Contest

The Programming Contest will decide winners and ranking based upon the largest number of problems solved in the least amount of time. ICPC (International Collegiate Programming Contest) regional rules, modified to be appropriate for high school students, will be used, if needed.

Review ICPC rules

App Design

The App Design Contest teams will be provided a problem statement with enough information and context to design a solution judged in the following areas:

UI Digital Design Deliverable (40%)
- Your team should hand-sketch a mockup of the interface on paper or markerboard and implement the hand-drawn interface as a clickable mockup which can be demonstrated during your presentation. The clickable mockup of the interface will need to run so the judges will be able to understand your concept for the software. There will be three-four screen designs described in the problem and needed to complete the interface mockup. You can use a free prototyping tool such as inVisionApp.com.
Coding Elegance Deliverables (10%)
- There will be a small programming task which will involve a loop, a selection statement, and a single-dimension array. A program should be written to complete the task. During the presentation to the judges, this program should be demonstrated. The team may use any language and any development environment to complete the programming task.
Computing Excellence Deliverables (10%)
- A 300-word or less persuasive argument delivered via word-processed document, such as Word or Google Docs. The persuasive argument should describe how the software designed by the team supports one of the following principles: Integrity, Service, Respect, Charity, Faithfulness, Truthfulness, Humility, Perseverance, Professionalism, and Excellence.
Professional Presentation Deliverables (40%)
- A digital slideshow, such as PowerPoint or Google Slides.
- The presentation should provide an overview of the content you created for the Digital Design, Coding Elegance, and Computing Excellence categories and roughly reflect the following outline:
  - Team introduction (one minute). Include names, school, and your role on the team.
  - The digital design portion should include the hand-sketch mockup AND demonstration of the clickable mockup (four minutes). You will be asked what changed between the hand-drawn mockup and the digital clickable mockup.
  - The coding elegance portion should include a run of the code your team created (or a video of the run of the code your team created) and a slide which shows this code. You should explain how the code works (two minutes).
  - The computing excellence portion should include a verbal reading of the persuasive argument (four minutes).

Cybersecurity

The Cybersecurity track will provide students with a systems security problem, that will be completed in a simulated environment.

Event Schedule

Time	Event
8 a.m.	Registration and t-shirts (Taylor Center lobby)
8:30 a.m.	Welcome and Rules Session (Taylor Center, Rohrs Auditorium)
9 a.m.	Teams to competition rooms
9:30 a.m.	Both competitions begin
11:30 a.m.	Solutions turned in. App design teams to lunch (provided by SBU).
12 p.m.	Programming and Cybersecurity contests end. Programming and Cybersecurity teams to lunch (provided by SBU).
12:30 p.m.	App design presentations start.
2:30 p.m.	App design presentations end.
2:30 p.m.	Awards Session (Taylor Center, Rohrs Auditorium)
3:30 p.m.	Concluding remarks

Parking

Free parking will be provided on campus. Please use the McClelland Dining Facility parking.

Download printable campus map (PDF)

Use the interactive digital campus map

Registration Form

Please read the Competition Instructions before completing your registration.

Please note: Programming Competition teams should have 2-3 members, App Design teams should have 2-5 members per team, and Cybersecurity teams should have 2-3 members. One-person teams should not be allowed to register.

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