The Ohio affiliate of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) honored high school students across Ohio at the 2025 Aspirations in Computing awards ceremony on Saturday

NCWIT and KeyBank Honor 51 Students and 2 Educators From Across Ohio With 2025 Aspirations in Computing Awards

April 26, 2025

The Ohio affiliate of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) honored high school students across Ohio at the 2025 Aspirations in Computing awards ceremony on Saturday, April 12th in Columbus Ohio.
The Ohio affiliate of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) honored high school students across Ohio at the 2025 Aspirations in Computing awards ceremony on Saturday, April 12th in Columbus Ohio.

The Ohio affiliate of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), in partnership with KeyBank, honored 51 high school students across Ohio at the 2025 Aspirations in Computing awards on Saturday, April 12th in Columbus, Ohio. These students, which included one national winner, were recognized for their leadership and involvement in technology, robotics, and applied science, along with their academic success and plans for post-secondary education.

Two STEM teachers were honored as well with an educator award.

For the past ten years, the Ohio Aspirations in Computing awards have been sponsored by KeyBank. All award recipients along with their families and educators were invited to join this year’s event, which featured a panel of professionals discussing the Tech thru Time. All shared insight into their career paths, education, and personal growth in STEM.

“KeyBank has a long history of supporting students who are interested in pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering, and math,” said Amy Brady, KeyBank Chief Information Officer. “We congratulate this year’s award winners and are proud to recognize the achievements and talents of these outstanding students. They are future problem solvers and the skills they are developing today will help solve the challenges of tomorrow.”

Since 2007, NCWIT has inducted more than 10,000 young women into the Aspirations in Computing community and is helping to usher these women into technology careers. The NCWIT Aspirations in Computing program is a talent development initiative designed to increase female participation in technology careers by providing encouragement, visibility, community, leadership opportunities, scholarships, and internships to aspiring technically inclined young women. NCWIT offers both national and local affiliate competitions to generate support and visibility for women’s participation in communities nationwide.

For information on the national program please visit www.aspirations.org

2025 National Honorable Mentions
Afia Ava – Padua Franciscan High School
Mahee Shah – Hathaway Brown High School 

2025 Ohio Affiliate Award Winners

Student’s Name 
School Name

Laasya Acharya
William Mason High School

Shivani Arulselvan
Padua Franciscan High School

Afia Ava
Padua Franciscan High School

Lilah Ball
Lakewood High School

Katie Benson
Hudson High School

Naisha Chopra
North Royalton High School

Ayesha Faruki
Mentor High School

Riya Hegde
Western Reserve Academy

Maya Houghton
Hathaway Brown School

Rebecca Jacob
Solon High School

Ava Kohlhaas
Lakota East High School

Audrey Malcuit
Padua Franciscan High School

Vaishnavi Rachuri
Dublin Jerome High School

Sonia Robinson
Hathaway Brown School

Mahee Shah
Hathaway Brown School

Kathleen Smith
Springfield-Clark County

Tori Smith
Magnificat High School

Maggie Smith
Padua Franciscan High School

Sahana Srikanth
William Mason High School

Sosena Tefera
Anderson High School

Rachel Tong
Olentangy Orange High School

Kaovya Vel
Westlake High School

Zaynah Wahab
Solon High School

2025 Ohio Affiliate Honorable Mentions

Student’s Name 
School Name

Emily Ahmad
Centerville High School

Aanvi Dogra
Dublin Jerome High School

Mengxin Deng
Magnificat High School

Kayleise Travis
Magnificat High School

Bohdan Chuprynka
North Royalton High School

Sophia Regoli
Canal Winchester High School

Gautami Kondekar
Dublin Jerome High School

Olivia Scarlatella
Felicity-Franklin High School

Yujing Li
North Royalton High School

Charlie Clements
Stow-Munroe Falls High School

Vidhissha Sharma
Solon High School

Sanyu Karathody
North Royalton High School

Tiffany Perez Garcia
Springfield-clark County

Amritha Kishan
Solon High School

Haasini Sanisetty
Hathaway Brown School

Harman Kaur
Dayton Regional Stem School

Ravia Bhullar
Nordonia High School

Sophia Swartwood
Padua Franciscan High School

Cailyn Hua
Western Reserve Academy

2025 Ohio Affiliate Rising Stars 

Student’s Name 
School Name

Siyuan Zhang
Solon High School

Giana Trolio
Ursuline High School

Maya School Sensabaugh
C-TEC Career And Technology Education Centers of Licking County

Riley Wilkerson
Ross High School

Kaavya Gulia
Solon High School

Anna McCracken
Westerville South High School

Alex Tehoke
Padua Franciscan High School

Victoria Goss
Padua Franciscan High School

Lyla Doucette
Brecksville-Broadview Heights High

2025 Ohio Educator Winner 
Jeff Rhodes – North Royalton High School

2025 Ohio Educator Honorable Mention
Greg Sauline – Ursuline High School

About NCWIT
NCWIT widens participation in the technology ecosystem through innovative programs and research.

This thriving community of more than 1,600 change leader organizations spanning K-12, Higher Education, and Industry works to expand access to critical knowledge and opportunities.

NCWIT helps organizations remain globally competitive in science and technology by creating environments where all students and employees thrive.

ABOUT NCWIT ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING (AiC)
Aspirations in Computing (AiC) opens pathways into technology from K-12 through career. AiC recognizes and celebrates students’ technical aspirations and abilities, as well as the educators who support them. The program also provides an expansive community network to create opportunities that lead to careers in technology.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp’s roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $189 billion at March 31, 2025.

Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 40,000 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank Member FDIC.

Rhonda Crawford– Ohio Affiliate Program Coordinator
Ceylon Allmond– Master of Ceremonies & Planning Committee
Maria Smith– Planning Committee & Host
Navarre Medlock– Planning Committee & Photographer
Jessica Kennedy– Planning Committee & RSVP Table
Shawanay Kirksey – Volunteer & RSVP Table
Matthew Prioletti– Communications Partner

Partners:

Eva Bradshaw – NCWIT Regional Affiliate Program Manager
Serina Shores – Ohio Affiliate Co-Program Coordinator Huntington Bank

Panelists:

Dieynabou Diallo – 2025 Ohio Collegiate Finalist & 3rd year student at OSU
Jay Shaffstall – Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Muskingum University
Ava Scherocman – 2020 Ohio Winner & Computer Science Major at OSU