Reagan Arnold (12) was the Central California Affiliate Winner for the National Center for Women & Information Technology Aspirations in Computing High School Award. She will be presented with the award on Saturday at Moorpark College.

Arnold’s DPMedia teacher, John Dent, brought the award to her attention earlier this school year. The award’s purpose is to recognize women in the technology field.

“[Dent] told me that he thought I was a great candidate for the award; he wanted to nominate me,” Arnold said.

Arnold will receive prizes along with her award, but she said that was not her motivation for applying. She said that the award is “a cool acknowledgment” for her work in yearbook, media, and photography.

“I wouldn’t have necessarily thought of myself as a woman in technology until Mr. Dent really lobbied for it for me, which I really appreciate of him,” Arnold said. “He’s always been really good at believing in me and pushing myself to not sell myself short.”

To apply for the award, Arnold said she had to provide her background information, describe her experiences with technology, explain how technology is a part of her life, and share what she hopes to do with technology in the future. She wrote about two to three sub-essays in total.

Arnold said receiving the notification that she won was “super cool,” especially since winning an award was not her plan for this year.

“My time in Yearbook will always be super special to me,” Arnold said. ”I think having this [award] to kind of sum it all up and just acknowledge all the hard work that I did do in the program is super cool to have, and it’s just a huge token of appreciation to me from Mr. Dent.”