CodeHS Inspire Fellowship — 2022- 2023 Program Recap
Expanding computer science education to encourage and support the next generation of coders
In the Fall of 2020, CodeHS proudly announced our inaugural cohort of Inspire Fellows. The focus of this program is expanding participation in computer science for Black, Latino, and Native American students.
Read more to learn about just a few of the amazing things the 2023 Inspire Fellows and their students accomplished this past school year.
Leon Tynes — Xavier College Preparatory — Phoenix, AZ
Leon Tynes is an innovative educator at Xavier College Preparatory School in Phoenix, AZ. The majority of his students prepared for the AP Computer Science A exam using CodeHS. Leon’s background is in business and law, and his passion for teaching stems from the underrepresentation of minorities and women in corporate America. In his own words, he works “to help create the next generation of planetary stewards.”
A highlight of the year was Girls’ Code IT Day.
“We wanted to take coding activities on the road to marginalized communities, and this is the first time that we were able to bring an event like this to another school campus. Our goal was to expose young girls in the elementary and middle school grades to coding. These girls were able to connect with our CS Honors Society students, and see inspirational examples of high school women who code. We were able to serve 50 female students at the school, which has a 97% Hispanic population and over 99% qualifying for free and reduced lunch.
All participants, including the Xavier coordinators and volunteers, were energized about their experience and their new perspective on coding and giving back to less fortunate communities. We are planning more events for the next school year and want to continue to focus on marginalized communities. One special event that we are planning, will bring this set of activities to an indigenous tribal school.”
Matthew Ernst — Aiken New Tech HS — Cincinnati Public Schools (Ohio)
Matthew Ernst is an information technology expert turned influential educator.
“My background has been IT for some 30 years. My journey went from spending my undergrad days at Xavier, earning a Masters in Educational Tech at Wright State, to working various IT support jobs, to finally settling into the classroom for the largest urban school district in Ohio — Cincinnati Public Schools. The inspiration to pursue teaching involved a situation at my last corporate role, where a customer was telling me how to do my job. It was time for a career change where I could make a difference. Teaching tech was the new direction for me.”
Matthew joined the Inspire Fellowship with aims of successfully leading his school’s first AP Computer Science Principles class.
“My goal was for students to achieve a 3 or higher and earn college credit. If I used all the resources in my classroom, success would happen. It’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions this year with this group. During the down times, I kept reminding myself that I was teaching teenagers. Their job is to frustrate their teachers and adults. They will appreciate this education much later in life.
A big success of my project for the fellowship was the focus of recruiting younger students into future years of this class. I found that younger students mainly focus on the GPA and how weighted AP credits increase that number. If they can boost their GPA by 1.5 times, their eyes seem to light up.
I also recruited the students who attended my tech club after school. We did a 6-week coding project. Some took Intro to Computer Science on Code HS, and completed simple projects with Karel. My 8th graders loved it. They will take my AP class when they become 9th graders! I set records for attendance for my tech club, with an average of 12–15 students at each weekly meeting. Some even earned the state of Ohio’s graduation Seal for Student Engagement.”
Check out some of the awesome CodeHS projects Matthew’s students created:
Mary Ann McKenney — Lithia Springs Comprehensive High School — Douglas County Schools (Georgia)
Mary Ann is a veteran teacher now enjoying her well-deserved retirement. Throughout her 35 years in education, her students have gone on to be accepted to several prestigious colleges, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Vanderbilt University. Many are the first in their families to attend college. She’s proud that her campus, Lithia Springs HS, consistently offers the highest number of computer science options in her district each year, ranging from Cybersecurity to Advanced Placement.
The theme for Mary Ann’s class this year was standing “On the Shoulders of Giants”. Her students studied and were inspired by pioneers in computer science from a wide variety of backgrounds. Mary Ann has always been an advocate for increasing diversity and representation in the field.
Below is an example of an interactive game programmed by future tech trailblazers from Mary Ann’s class:
Shenica Mathieu — Arabia Mountain High School Academy of Engineering and Medicine — Dekalb County Schools (Georgia)
Shenica is a self-described “teacherpreneur” who has always aimed to develop business savvy go-getters in her classroom.
“Many minority students don’t participate in code because they lack the confidence to believe that they can learn it. My project used students who were passionate and confident to persuade other students that it is cool to code.
Time spent in CodeHS courses helped my students with their submissions for the Congressional App Challenge, TSA Coding Competition, Vex Robotics, TSA Software Development competition, and TSA animatronics competitions.”
Shenica’s students also worked as paid website consultants for The New Black Wall Street Market, a hub of black businesses near their school district.
Several were also selected as award recipients for the Amazon Future Engineer Program.
Suraia Fattah — W.A. Cunningham School — New York City Public Schools
Suraia’s decision to add computer science to her math curriculum for the first time in 23 years of teaching started out on a very personal note.
“I majored in CS in college and started my career there, but felt it was hostile to women. I want to encourage female students to remain steadfast and thrive in this field.”
Her focus in the Inspire Fellowship was all about encouraging students to apply their critical thinking abilities to both coding and math.
“Many students struggle with basic mathematical concepts and have already convinced themselves that math is too hard, too weird, too meaningless to keep trying to understand. Coding gets students to persevere in problem solving and develop a stay in the game attitude. We need this mindset to also have success in math class.
I enriched my math class with Python and robotics this year. The students I serve are students with disabilities and need to be exposed to computer science, which can make mathematics more meaningful to them. Learning computer science teaches students problem solving, perseverance, commitment, collaboration and opens access to career paths they thought might not have been an option. I strongly believe that students see the true power of mathematics when applied through coding.
Allowing students to find success through their struggles, wins, and risk taking in coding is the goal.”
We thank our 2023 Inspire Fellows for continuing to expand student access and participation in computer science! To learn more about the CodeHS Inspire Fellowship, visit codehs.com/inspire_fellowship, and dive into the CodeHS platform at codehs.com.
