The First Academy's Coding Team unlocks secret to success

The pressure was on. 

As The First Academy juniors Eli Harrison, Samuel Gomez and Amie Newell worked to solve various computer science problems at the University of Central Florida, so were hundreds of other students from across the state participating in the competition. 

The UCF competition is the second largest in the state, with more than 200 students participating in teams of up to three students.

Every time a team solved a problem, the team was given a different colored balloon to represent the problem they solved. 

Seeing more balloons pop up all around the room added to the pressure as the TFA Coding Team had to quickly decide which problems to tackle and swiftly solve them with the hopes of earning the most points to land them in first place. 

Their keen thinking and expeditious problem solving paid off. 

For the first time in the TFA Coding Team’s history, it placed first at the UCF competition. 

In only four years, the team has seen vast improvement. 

When Eli Harrison was a freshman, the TFA Coding Team placed 13th at the UCF competition. 

Last year, the team placed second at the UCF competition.

This year, the team took home the giant first-place trophy. 

“When I started bringing teams to these competitions 10 years ago, it was to give my students cool experiences, and I was happy when they were solving two problems,” TFA Coding Team adviser Neil Harrison said. “I never expected anything in the top prizes. Some years, I would have students who are more serious. The first time we got in the top half of the teams there, I was proud of that. Now winning the competitions, being in the coaches room and hearing the other coaches talk about, ‘It’s only a junior, we have to deal with this for another year,’ and being one of the schools that other schools are scared of is kind of crazy.”

The success at UCF came after the first win of the season at Lockheed Martin Code Quest March 1. 

The Lockheed Martin Code Quest competition is the largest computer science competition in the state, with more than 300 students participating. 

Eli Harrison and Gomez brought home the first-place win for TFA. 

At Lockheed, teams were lined down a hallway known as “the spine.” 

Not only was the atmosphere that of friendly competition, but also Gomez said he appreciated the sheer number of problems the team could potentially solve. There were 25 problems, but because of time constraints, a team could solve maybe half. It forced TFA team members to decide what problems to prioritize. 

Eli Harrison also used what he learned from participating in last year’s Lockheed competition to his benefit this year. Last year, he went for high-scoring problems, but even if he had answered them correctly, the time spent on them still resulted in a loss. It’s all about balance.

With 25 questions and a possible 1,400 points to score, Eli Harrison and Gomez scored 590, winning first place, with their score being 200 points ahead of second place. 

For Newell, Lockheed was her first competition as a member of the coding team. She was nervous but excited to participate. By the time she competed at UCF, she was more relaxed.

“It’s kind of ominous seeing that long hallway with so many people and you just feel so many competitive people (at Lockheed),” Newell said. “It’s a new experience because you have to weigh the timing of the problem with the points. … At UCF, I feel like I was learning more problem-solving skills and new ways of thinking,” Newell said. “It’s nice to see that all your work is going towards something.”

Solving problems together, whether at practice or at a competition, is a team bonding experience, said senior Austin Williams. He said the team has fun working together, and solving a problem together makes it more satisfying. 

During practices, Eli Harrison leads the team through problems. He attended a competitive programming camp at UCF and has been working on his own to learn more and improve his skills. Everything he learns, he passes onto his teammates. 

“I like learning these new ways to solve problems,” Eli Harrison said. “I feel like it’s going to be useful later, and it’s just satisfying when you get a problem.”

With the success of this season, the team members said it adds some pressure heading into next year as they want to continue their success. 

“There’s definitely some pressure going into the next year, but it is really exciting knowing that you can do it and knowing that with another year of practice, hopefully we’ll perform even better in total,” Eli Harrison said.