Denmark Technical College dual enrollment student and senior at Denmark-Olar High School, Laila Donaldson, is poised to blaze trails in the IT field.
Donaldson was recently chosen to be a part of the national app building team with HBCU C² initiative. The HBCU C² program is a collaboration of dozens of HBCUs, led by Tennessee State University, aimed at increasing diversity in technical career fields.
Donaldson was chosen from hundreds of students for the HBCUC² app design team. The team consists of five other students from HBCUs around the country and is busy working on their first project, an app for the North Nashville Heritage Project.
“We’re working to push out an app that really celebrates the history of North Nashville. I’m helping with the design which will feature information about important people, historic locations and significant events,” said Donaldson. “Right now, we’re hashing out the details to include a walking tour tab on the app.”
When finished, the team plans to do a full launch and will have their product featured in the app store before moving on to their second project.
“Miss Donaldson was a natural choice for the team. Her history of excellence at Denmark Tech, paired with her thirst for knowledge and her penchant for technology, sets her apart from the competition. She has a bright future ahead of her,” said Dr. Willie L. Todd Jr., Denmark Technical College president.
Donaldson has been excelling in computer science classes and tech based extracurricular activities since she entered the Denmark Tech Dual Enrollment program in 2017, as a freshman.
“The classes I’ve taken in Upward Bound and through Denmark Tech Dual Enrollment are teaching me to code, so I hope that one day soon I can use those skills to make my own app ideas a reality,” she said.
This past year, Donaldson took home the first-place award at Denmark Tech’s inaugural App Challenge Expo, competing against fellow dual enrollment students, full-time college students and even a few higher ed professionals.
Donaldson will graduate as valedictorian of her high school next month with an Associate of Science degree from Denmark Tech and plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computer science. She is still weighing her options as to which four-year institution she will attend but is excited for the future. So far, she has been accepted to over ten colleges and universities and has been offered more than a million dollars in scholarship money.
“We’re very proud of Miss Donaldson. She has worked hard and is an example of what it means to be a dual enrollment student at Denmark Tech,” said Doris Beard, Denmark Technical College dual enrollment counselor.
