Introducing the First Cohort of CodeHS Teacher Trainers

Introducing the First Cohort of CodeHS Teacher Trainers

The CodeHS Teacher Trainer program is a new initiative of CodeHS where educators can expand their impact by sharing best practices and teaching strategies with new computer science teachers. Educators can learn from one another in order to better support their students through computer science education.

Teacher Trainers

Our first cohort of CodeHS Teacher trainers are excited to lead fun and informative workshop sessions on a variety of topics! We’re proud to introduce 11 passionate teacher trainers from our Summit hosted this May, where we kick-started our Teacher Trainer Program.

Rhonda Carpenter-Powell

Rhonda is a teacher at Forest Park High School in Forest Park, Georgia, where she teaches Computer Science Principles & AP Computer Science.

“I wanted to become a CodeHS Teacher Trainer to be able to help the teachers that are new to Computer Science and also CodeHS.”

Kelley Dixon

Kelley currently teaches at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown, PA. She’s been teaching for 30 years, and began using CodeHS 4 years ago, having discovered it during an hour of code.

“My students and I really enjoy using the CodeHS curriculum. I look forward to sharing something I enjoy using with others. I also like to share how CodeHS can help take the fear out of teaching programming!!”

Andres Dominguez

Andres has been a teacher at Newport Harbor HS for 25 years. He began his teaching career with math, and in 2002, he started teaching computer science. Prior to becoming a teacher, Andres worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry for nine years.

“This year I am retiring, and I would love to stay involved in the world of teaching. I wholeheartedly believe that coding is as important as reading and writing and would like to promote the learning and teaching of computer programming.”

Don Gamble

Bio: Don has been teaching a combination of biology, anatomy and physiology, multimedia design, computer science, and robotics at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, CA for the past 17 years.

“I discovered CodeHS years ago when the company was relatively new and offered only one (JavaScript) course. What began as a search for resources evolved into one of the best curriculum decisions I’ve ever made as an educator. CodeHS continues to help me facilitate the creation of hundreds of computer scientists and programmers. Many of my students majored (or are currently majoring) in computer science and some are currently working in the industry. I love to collaborate with other teachers, I thoroughly believe in the product that CodeHS delivers, and I’m passionate about the subject area.”

Linda Hahn

Linda is a computer science teacher at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she teaches high school and middle school students. Linda has been teaching computer science for over a decade and using CodeHS for 4 years.

“I became a CodeHS Teacher Trainer because I am a huge fan of CodeHS! I’ve seen how the curriculum has impacted my students and fellow CS teachers. I wanted the opportunity to train other teachers and help them use CodeHS to its fullest potential. I also wanted to support the CodeHS team by providing great training and on-boarding for teachers with any level of experience.”

Enza Ketcham

Enza has been teaching computer science classes for 14 years in Kansas and is currently teaching for the Shawnee Mission School District.

“CodeHS is the best curriculum out there for students and teachers. We have a huge growing field and a gap in teachers who know the content. Many CS teachers are learning the content with their students! CodeHS makes learning for teachers and students easy and fun!”

Erik Magness

Erik has been teaching at Villa Maria Academy High School in Malvern, PA for 21 years. He started as a Latin teacher and now teaches Computer Science. Erik loves bringing creativity to the classroom and fostering independence and exploration. He found CodeHS while in need of a robust curriculum that worked well on a flipped model with two AP classes meeting at the same time.

“I believe in the CodeHS curriculum. It is great for both the students and the teacher. It is flexible enough to appeal to many different learning styles. I believe everyone should learn to code and CodeHS is the best path to that goal.”

Brian Piltin

Brian was a video game programmer in his early career and then worked as a software consultant for a few years after. He got involved in music for a while and played bass for an indie rock band before he started teaching engineering and computer science.

“I believe CodeHS is an excellent platform and I enjoy promoting it, I also have a strong desire to help teachers who teach CS, knowing how difficult it can be, ultimately I know this will impact students in a positive way, which is my ultimate goal.”

Sean Raser

Sean has been teaching computer science at California High School in San Ramon for the past 6 years.

“I have been extremely happy with the support that I have received from CodeHS ever since I started using them 3 years ago. Account Managers that respond right away, KarelCon, visiting my school to lead Hour of Code sessions, etc. I want to reciprocate that support, but also share these experiences with other teachers. My students have thrived while using CodeHS, and I want other students in other schools to have that same opportunity and experience.”

Debbie Weissmann

Debbie teaches at New Roads School in Santa Monica, CA, where she teaches a variety of CodeHS courses, including Intro to JavaScript, Intro to Python, Intro to Java, Intro to HTML, Intro to VR, and both AP CSA and CSP.

“When I logged into CodeHS for the first time I had seasoned classroom management skills & well honed instructional design skills, along with years of playing on Scratch, but didn’t know how to write a function that wasn’t part of a set of blocks. It has been an incredible journey, and has turned out to be great fun for both me and my students. I became a CodeHS Teacher Trainer so I can share strategies for teaching CS on the CodeHS platform, enabling skillful teachers to create coding communities and share the fun of coding with their students.”

Abbey Wesche

Abbey is a business teacher in Bozeman, Montana approaching her 6th year of teaching after working in the business world for several years.

“I want to continue strengthening my knowledge about coding and the different languages, I hope to gain a cohort of colleagues that I can learn from and network with, and I want to learn about the different ways teachers are using direct instruction and project based learning in conjunction with CodeHS.”