During their junior year, Ethan Howell and Mateusz Garstecki noticed UIL Academic meets had a computer language and programming contest.

After discovering their own school did not have a computer science team or coach, they did the next logical thing – they created their own.

After some success, Howell and Garstecki realized UIL Computer Science was an opportunity to learn usable skills in computer programming and was an avenue to review for the AP Computer Science test.

No teachers felt qualified to coach them as a team, so the young men went to principal Michael Wahl and formed the first SV Computer Science Club.

Meeting in a classroom every Monday afternoon their senior year, they traded teaching the concepts of Java programming to a group of students that sometimes numbered close to 10.

By the spring competition season, a core team of four – Howell, Garstecki, Colt Hermesch and Branden Klar – began preparing for UIL invitational meets.

UIL Computer Science consists of a team programming event and individual testing. At each of the invitational meets, at least one team member placed individually. Their first team victory was at the Somerset “Bulldog” Invitational on March 5.

UIL district and regional meets, however, presented bigger challenges. No other schools fielded a self-taught team. Other teams were recruited by computer science teachers and had worked together in an actual class all year.

But then – no other teams had Howell and Garstecki as their captains. Smithson Valley won first place computer Science team at UIL district on April 2.

Preparing for the UIL regional meet meant preparing to compete with other 6A schools from all over central Texas and the Valley.

Two days of competition later, the team learned Garstecki placed sixth place overall, Howell had placed seventh and the team had won second place in the region, losing only to UIL powerhouse Edinburg North. They had placed ahead of strong rivals Reagan and Churchill and were named alternate to UIL state competition.

The next Monday was not a day off for these young men. After school, Klar, Hermesch, Howell and Garstecki were at their usual table in the senior dining hall looking over their programming books.

After all, the AP Computer Science test was only a few days away.