Meet the 2020 CodeHS Inspire Fellows
Passionate Educators Who Are Expanding Participation in Computer Science for Black, Latino, and Native American Students
Earlier this fall, we launched the new CodeHS Inspire Fellowship including a CodeHS Pro sponsorship, professional development, and resources to support educators expanding computer science participation among Black, Latino and Native American students.
Today, we are thrilled to announce the 16 outstanding CodeHS Inspire Fellows for the 2020 school year!
Alean Cook
Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School — Atlanta, Georgia
Alean Cook is an innovative educator in the STEAM field. She is the Department Head and the AP Computer Science instructor at Cristo Rey Atlanta HS. Throughout her career, Ms. Cook has been an impressive catalyst for change and an inspiration to other women in the STEAM field.
“One of the most memorable experiences I had with my students last year was when I announced that we had won the 2019 Congressional App Challenge. I proved to them that with hard work, dedication, and commitment, they are beyond capable of accomplishing anything that their heart desired. I witnessed an increase in their confidence and self-efficacy right before my eyes.”
Andrew Pham
SEED School of Maryland — Baltimore, Maryland
Andrew has been an educator in Baltimore for 12 years initially teaching History and English courses. In the last six years, he transitioned to teaching technology and computer science courses. Now, he’s the Director of the Cyber Lab at the SEED School of Maryland where he built a 2,500 square foot STEM space dedicated to high-quality STEM programming featuring Computer Science and Cybersecurity.
“My students come from the entire state of Maryland and live on campus five days a week, often they haven’t had the exposure to emerging technologies but are extremely interested in anything STEM. We have a motto of failing fast and failing forward, meaning that we aren’t afraid to take risks, learn something new, and keep trying until we succeed.”
Brian Taylor
Franklin Military Academy-Richmond, Virginia
Brian has been teaching for over 20 years, but he has only been teaching computer science for 5 years. He sets the bar high for his students to excel in class, as well as life.
“I work at a military academy in an impoverished area, but the cadets have a wonderful desire to learn and grow. My goal is to encourage students to achieve success regardless of their situations or circumstances. The cadets inspire and motivate me to share relevant real-world skills and life lessons that will enhance their lives.”
Carmen Bryson
Shaw High School — East Cleveland, Ohio
Meet Carmen Bryson. Carmen has a BS in Math with a concentration in Computer Science from Howard University, a Masters in Education, and a Masters in Social Administration. She taught Math for 20 years and is now teaching AP Java Computer Science A. Prior to teaching CS, she would incorporate Computer Science in her Math Curriculum.
“My students love a challenge and like using Computer Science to solve societal problems. My students won state finalist in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest using problem solving skills. CodeHS helps to develop the problem solving skills needed for my students to compete on a national level.”
Delavita John
Chinle High School — Chinle, Arizona
Delavita has been teaching for over 15 years. In 2004, she graduated with her Master’s from Northern Arizona University with Teaching and Learning with Technology. She taught across the Navajo Reservation for over 10 years and settled at Chinle High School. After completing her 2nd masters IN administration leadership, she became the assistant principal at Chinle High School and went back into the classroom where she has been teaching for 4 years.
“We are Navajo-Diné, loud and proud Native American from Chinle Arizona, Wildcat Country. Students are all on remote learning with laptops issued from the district. Student also have hotspots and slowly progressing through this tough year. We’re trying to get more students interested in coding and programming.”
Elizabeth Kupiecki
Academy of Aerospace and Engineering — Hartford, Connecticut
Elizabeth currently lives and teaches in Connecticut at a magnet school called the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering (AAE), but she originally hailed from Michigan. AAE has students from all over Hartford County and is intentionally diverse both racially and socioeconomically. This is her 7th year at AAE and her 13th year teaching; She has taught math, physics, special ed, alternative ed, and computer science.
“The thing I find most special about my students in the classroom is their natural desire to collaborate and help one another. When one student’s program isn’t working or they don’t understand something, another student will scooch over and offer help. This happens so organically that it always brightens my day. I’m also appreciative of it because I’ve found that as this happens students are improving in their ability to communicate about what their programs should be doing and what isn’t working.”
Elizabeth Wiederspohn
Sunnyside High School — Sunnyside, Washington
Meet Elizabeth Wiederspohm. Elizabeth is a business teacher from Sunnyside, WA. She has been teaching Computer Science for 4 years, but has been teaching computer programs for 20 years. She also teaches Yearbook, Photography, and Senior Capstone (Career Research, Applying for a Job, Presentation Skills, and Personal Finance). Her school has an active TSA organization and robotics/STEM program.
“A majority of our students are low income and have big dreams, but don’t know how to get there. They are very family oriented and we are all proud of how fast and far they have come in their education.”
Felicia Palm
Woodlawn High School — Birmingham, Alabama
This is her 7th year of teaching and each year Felicia feels that she grows because of the many experiences and lessons taught by her scholars. Her purpose for becoming a teacher was to offer her scholars the skills and knowledge needed in the business industry, just as her inspiration, her high school business teacher, offered to her. For the past three years, she has had the great privilege of teaching and learning more about Computer Science and has been able to pass that knowledge on to her scholars. She’s so grateful to have the opportunity to introduce the broad world of CS to her diverse and inquisitive scholars.
“A very meaningful event from our class is when we go to neighboring middle schools and my CS scholars teach CS lessons to those scholars during the Hour of Code week. This event allows them the chance to take ownership of what they have learned in our class. During this event, I have the luxury of seeing my scholars transform into mentors and motivators as they help to pique the interest of the next generation of high school CS scholars.”
Jamila Mitchell
Evans High School — Orlando, Florida
Jamila teaches AP Computer Science Principles, AP Computer Science A, and IB Computer Science in Orlando, FL. She has been teaching for six years now and also sponsors their National Technical Honor Society, Trojan Store, and Sports Media organizations. In her spare time, she enjoys crafting, playing piano or video games, reading, and spending time with her dogs and family.
“My students are truly passionate about positively influencing and improving their community and society. In my computer science classes, they find ways to apply what they are learning to address a problem or issue they are passionate about or explore a concept or topic further that interests them the most. Many of my students pursue personal passion projects and opportunities they would not have even known or thought about if they hadn’t taken a computer science course.”
Jeanne Smith
Grove High School — Grove, Oklahoma
Jeanna has taught mathematics for 18 years and then started a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) pre-engineering program at her high school. As a result of that, she was able to transition into a full-time STEM teaching position and is currently teaching AP CSP, AP CSA, Cybersecurity, Robotics, and three PLTW pre-engineering courses. She formally taught CS courses for the past three years, but before becoming a teacher she was a technical analyst in the corporate world.
“My classroom is organized chaos! Through various funding sources, including a generous local education foundation, I have secured a variety of kits and resources for my students so they can explore and create. For my computer science students, I have Android tablets, numerous small robots (ittyBitty bots, mBots, cyber:bots), Arduinos, Raspberry Pi, and micro:bits. My students enjoy being able to see these items in action as they explore computer science.”
Jessica Svoboda
Encompass Academy — Reno, Nevada
Meet Jess, a high school science teacher. She started teaching biology in Chicago, then found herself moving out west. She taught sciences and math while teaching high school at an expeditionary school. She finally settled down in Reno, Nevada, where she’s thrilled to have found her teaching home with Encompass Academy. This is her first year teaching coding, and she can’t wait to build up their CS program!
“My school has an amazing culture I can only summarize with a story: While teaching health and sex-ed, one student had an embarrassing question. After she asked, all the students immediately gasped “Whaaat? REALLY??” She was so embarrassed! Without any direction from me, all the students immediately corrected themselves and encouraged her to let her question be answered. This is the kindest, most empathetic group of students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching.”
Julia Moak
MAST Academy — Miami, Florida
After 17 years in corporate finance, information systems and earning an MBA, Julia taught elementary school for 14 years while her own children went through school. During that time she earned a MEd in Gifted Education and decided that she wanted to utilize her business and education experience at the middle/high school level. She started at MAST Academy last year teaching middle school business/computer science, and this year she teaches all middle and high school computer science (AP CSP, AP CSA, Foundations of Programming-Python, and CS Discoveries) and business ed (Microsoft Office Certification).
“In this time of Covid, students feel that they have no control over anything. For a few who are having an especially hard time, we are looking at our classes as an opportunity to completely control something in the midst of chaos. Students can tell the computer exactly what to do, and it has to obey. It is giving these students (and probably even more than I know) a feeling of empowerment at a time when they think it no longer exists. Those completely new to CS are finding that prospect especially exciting because they did not yet know the possibilities.”
Julian Parrish
Chinle High School — Chinle, Arizona
Meet Julian, a Computer Science teacher at Chinle High School, in Chinle, Arizona. Julian is a citizen of the Navajo Nation, and a proud husband and father. He has been teaching Computer Science now for 4 years and it has been a journey. He has taught CS Discoveries, and CS Principles via Code.org and for the last two years been teaching a CS with Applied Engineering course.
“My students are special, over the last four years I have seen many enter and leave my classroom, I have seen my students use me and my class as a platform to reach and aspire to reach their dreams. Many of them have chosen Computer Science as majors at their respective universities and have continued to be shining beacons of hope and perseverance, leading by example. I say all these very vague things but this is where my words fail, for my students are special, and no real words can compare. My students are warriors, blazing trails for future generations of Navajo Students in the world of S.T.E.M.”
Kendra Johnson
Cypress Springs High School — Cypress, Texas
Kendra has been teaching for 13 years now, but only 2 years in Computer Science. She graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science from Grambling State University. She was not introduced to Computer Science until a summer bridge program the summer before college. That is why she is interested in making sure all students can be introduced to Computer Science before college.
“I work with my students to get them where they need to be and help them to understand that though I majored in Computer Science I learned a totally different programming language then what they are learning. That helps them to understand we are lifelong learners and I am still learning along with them.”
Lucie Sample
Canyon Springs High School — North Las Vegas, Nevada
Meet Lucie. It’s her 7th year as a public high school teacher, 4th year in Math, and 3rd in Computer Science. Before that, she spent 16 years at a Fortune 500 software firm, working in programming, development, and design.
“My students come from some of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods in our area. Many of them have no technology at home other than a cell phone. Most of them begin our 3-year Computer Science course of study with zero knowledge of hardware or software other than the limited exposure they had at school.”
Melinda Zarate
Rivera Early College High School — Brownsville, Texas
Melinda has been teaching for 24 years and has been teaching technology in one form or another for most of those years. She currently teaches upper level IT practicums and PLTW Computer Science. This is her second year teaching the computer science program.
“I teach at an at-risk urban school on the border of Texas and Mexico. The majority of my students are either 1st or 2nd generation living in the US or they commute daily from Mexico. We are currently virtual, which means a large number of students do not have internet connectivity or lack a device. Our district has provided most of them with a device or a hotspot for use.”
Congratulations to the 2020 CodeHS Inspire Fellows!
We are excited to work together to expand Black, Latino, and Native American student participation in computer science.
To learn more about the fellowship, visit codehs.com/inspire_fellowship.
