Introducing the July 2020 Cohort of CodeHS Teacher Trainers

Alexander Anesko

Alexander teaches Intro to CS and AP CSA at Cape Elizabeth High School in Maine. He uses CodeHS for all of his classes, and for other purposes, especially Hour of Code. Prior to teaching, Alexander was an electrical engineer for 25 years, where (like most engineers) he coded a lot!

“CodeHS is a better platform than any of the others I’ve used, better than instructional platforms I’ve used as an engineer. I am excited to share what I’ve learned!” — Alexander Anesko

Brian Ciccolo

Prior to becoming a teacher, Brian spent 20 years in software development. Now he teaches multiple computer science classes at Hanover High School including AP CSA, AP CSP, Intro to CS, and Web Application Development. When he’s not sitting in front of a computer, Brian enjoys the outdoors, hiking, and camping with family and friends.

“I wanted to become a CodeHS Teacher Trainer so I can help other teachers use this fantastic tool to get more students excited about computer science.” — Brian Ciccolo

Lisa Giacalone

Lisa teaches computer science and robotics at Simi Valley High School, CA. Over the past 9 years, she has taught English-language arts and computer science for both middle and high school. As a CTE teacher, Lisa is passionate about helping students develop skills that they can use now and in their future careers.

“If an English teacher can learn to teach computer programming, then you can too! CodeHS made the transition easy for me. But more importantly, CodeHS helps me to motivate students and open their eyes to careers that they never dreamed of.” — Lisa Giacalone

Tywania Griffin

Tywania is a teacher/administrator at Millennium High School in Tracy, CA where she teaches math and computer science. Tywania has been using CodeHS for 5 years at her school.

“I created the computer science courses at my school because there was a need for it and the students really wanted to learn it. CodeHS has been vital to my classes and I want to inspire any teacher who is thinking about doing something similar.” — Tywania Griffin

Timothy Hipp

Timothy is a 15 year veteran of Woodward Academy in College Park, GA, the largest K-12 independent school in the continental USA. He switched to the CodeHS curriculum for AP Computer Science 3 years ago and witnessed a dramatic rise in both his own teaching and his students’ performance. Timothy’s department now uses CodeHS curriculum for many of their 7–12 computer science courses including both AP courses, Digital Design, and Intro to CS.

“I can speak firsthand of the positive impact CodeHS has had on my classroom and students. I am a confident teacher having used their curriculums for both AP computer science courses, and the hands-on coding practice my students obtain through the CodeHS platform is absolutely vital to their academic success. I hope to share my enthusiasm, expertise, and ideas with colleagues considering or adopting the CodeHS platform.” — Timothy Hipp

Dennis “Chip” Kramlich

Dennis is a second career teacher and currently teaches at Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, GA. He teaches Georgia’s CS Pathway which includes Introduction to Digital Technology, AP CSP and AP CSA. Dennis was always looking for resources to use in his classroom and found CodeHS about 5 years ago. He’s been using CodeHS ever since!

“I have a big interest in helping people and being a CS professional, I see the need for more people to become involved with CS. As such, we need more teachers who can teach computer science and I felt that becoming a CodeHS Teacher Trainer would help with this.” — Chip Kramlich

Carmen Lagalante

Carmen teaches at the JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, CA as an Educational Technology Specialist for the past 15 years. She started teaching computer science in 2010 and started with CodeHS in 2016 after the parent of an incoming freshman told her about it. Carmen teaches Computing Ideas, Cybersecurity, Intro to CS (javascript), AP Computer Science A, and Mobile Apps.

“I wanted to be a teacher trainer because I think computer programming is an essential skill for the modern world and CodeHS makes it possible for anyone to teach it at their school without a Computer Science degree. When my students ask me why I did not get a computer science degree, I tell them that if I had they would not be my students because I would be making a lot more money writing code!” — Carmen Lagalante

Tziri Lamm

Tziri is a HS English teacher by training from Brooklyn, NY who started teaching computer science 2 years ago by accident. She’s gone from complete newbie to coordinating computer science curriculum at Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman HS because of all the learning she’s done through and with CodeHS.

“I’ve been a tremendous fan of CodeHS since I stumbled across the VR curriculum in December 2018. Last summer I became a CodeHS Certified Educator, so becoming a Teacher Trainer seems like the perfect next step. I love giving professional development and this program gives me the opportunity to expand my repertoire and work closely with a company that I’ve come to respect and love.” — Tziri Lamm

Gary Van Der Linden

Gary spent 40 years in IT development and started teaching 9 years ago. He started using CodeHS 5 years ago for Intro to Programming and AP Computer Science. In the last two years, Gary also started using CodeHS for Intro to Cybersecurity!

“My experience with CodeHS has greatly helped me and I’d love to pass on my experience and help to other teachers.” — Gary Van Der Linden

Sean Wasson

Sean is the Chapter President of CSTA Maine and has been a teacher for over 20 years, having spent most of his career teaching New Media and Computer Science classes. Currently, he teaches at Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland, Maine.

“I started using CodeHS two years ago. My students have enjoyed the new material and I plan to utilize even more of it during the 2020–2021 school year.” — Sean Wasson

John Wilson

John teaches Introduction to Programming in JavaScript at Park Slope Collegiate in Brooklyn, NY. He started using CodeHS about 4 years ago and has been using it ever since. John worked as a programmer/tech support for about 15 years before becoming a stay-at-home Dad for about 5 years. After that, he entered teaching through the NYC Teaching Fellows program. When he has time, John likes to fly small planes.

“I like to share what I have learned about CodeHS with others and being a Teacher Trainer seemed like a good way to do that. I am also hoping to learn from others and improve my teaching as well.” — John Wilson