CTE Expo 2026

Date: May 21

Location: DNHS Quad

Extra Credit Theme: What you saw and what you learned?

Proof of Experience

This selfie was taken after I watched Samarth and his group’s presentation at the CTE expo.

Before the Event

I expected to see a couple CTE classes across the district showcasing their stuff, with the CS classes having simple projects up to show to any onlookers.

Curiosity Before Attending

I was curious about the projects that classes like AP CSP and the engineering classes around the high school were working on.

What I Saw

I visited the booths about competitive robotics teams from Rancho Bernardo, Del Norte, Design 39, and Poway. I also visited Rancho Bernardo’s engineering class booth, Del Norte’s DECA booth, and watched the UESL and PNEC presentations by AP CSP students.

Most Interesting Thing I Saw

I was interested in the AI features shown in the PNEC presentation.

What I Learned

I learned that when designing websites, you can implement AI features that make it easy for admins with little computer science experience to edit the website as well through admin dashboards.

What Surprised Me

I was surprised by a couple of the projects done by Rancho Bernardo’s engineering classes, as they built and assembled multi-part miniature cars using 3d printed parts that they designed themselves.

What Inspired Me

I was inspired by the PNEC group’s use of AI for an easy-to-use site for both users and admins, from chatbots to a prompt engineering interface within the website.

Personal Connection

I am looking to build websites for newer clubs/nonprofits and for myself as personal projects, and things like this would be very useful in those websites.

Interaction

Person or group I learned from: I talked to the presenters of the PNEC project, who were students of AP CSP

They presented their site(branched off of PNEC’s existing site) to a panel of partners stemming from university faculty and nonprofit founders as I observed.

Depth of Experience

This event influenced my understanding of how we can use AI in our projects and applications.

Connection to CS or Future Goals

The CS concepts I saw in action can be directly applied to future projects that I intent to start both in and out of CS classes.

Final Reflection

This event was meaningful to me because I got to see students like me demonstrate a wide spectrum career and technical skills that they had spent the year developing. I was especially inspired by the CS-based projects I saw, as the students were partnering with nonprofits to build projects with real-world significance.

Biggest Takeaway

Through computer science, students like me can build and develop projects that have a real impact on our communities.