How did you get into CS?

I have a degree in mathematics, having taken a single C++ coding class in college and none prior. I didn’t realize until much later many of my upper level math courses were just computer science classes disguised as math. I’ve always been a gamer and a computer person growing up. At my current school we started a computer science program and my principal at the time knew I could code and loved gaming so she asked if I would take over the program. That was over a decade ago.  I’ve helped grow the program from a single AP course to an intro class, two AP courses, and a cybersecurity course. Since then I’ve taken many classes, both official and self-guided, to learn Javascript, Java, web design, Python, cybersecurity, networking, and machine learning. 

What are some successes and challenges that you've experienced?

I’ve had some great successes including growing the program and student success stories. Students have gone on to attend colleges and technical schools, intern at companies and even our own school district, and build some impressive projects. On more than one occasion a student has told me they are going to pursue computer science following high school after having taken my courses.  I’m always proud to have played a role in a student finding direction in what they want to pursue after high school.  

There are a few challenges in CS education at the high school level, especially right now with the uncertainty of the job market. It can be difficult to tell students to follow a computer science or cybersecurity path knowing there are no jobs to be found right now, even for experienced professionals. Further compounding the problem is the uncertainty in how AI will impact job availability.  

Another challenge for my school in particular is recruiting for the program. Before covid I had decent numbers for a smaller school, but afterwards it dropped off. Added to that we often have a disconnect between scheduling and teachers, students scheduled for courses out of order or placed in classes without the prerequisites. The middle school also offers the introductory course now, which reduces the number of students I might hook into the program while teaching them the intro class. 

What do you find compelling about computer science?

Coming from math I love two main aspects of computer science education. First is having excited students in class; very few students walk into math class excited to be there. Granted, I was one of those few myself, but I understand that’s not typical. Students coming into my class on the whole are much more passionate and motivated to come in and see what we are doing each day as compared to some of the more traditional school subjects.

Second is teaching a topic where we make things and students can see the immediate impact of what we learn. The common “Why are we learning this?” conversation ends differently in computer science as I show them what we are going to make with the topics we will cover. Having that tangible project at the end gives students something to work towards. I have this in common with my students, one of the reasons I enjoy computer science is the hands-on creation of projects while learning.

What are you currently working on? What are you excited about?

I am currently taking a cybersecurity course for my continuing education credits. I earned my CompTIA Security+ certification a few summers ago, but going through another prep class has hit on some topics I haven’t gone through, or maybe didn’t remember from a few years ago. I’m excited to bring these topics into the cybersecurity course I teach. I also took several self-paced courses on machine learning a couple years ago. Afterwards I built a few personal projects and competed in some Kaggle competitions for machine learning problems. I’ve developed a passion for machine learning in specific within the computer science field and continue to tinker with my own projects.  

What advice or resources would you like to share?

There are a lot of great resources out there for coding now, some free like code.org and others paid.  Cybersecurity has fewer, but there are some good sites for professionals to learn that could be used at a high school level.  I’d love to see both a more high school focused cyber course and any kind of networking/IT courses at the high school level. I understand there is a cost associated with having physical equipment, but my students in the intro class often ask for more lessons like when we tear apart old desktops and talk about what all the parts do. I feel as though we are missing a great opportunity to engage these students more and guide them towards an IT/networking program. I’ve even considered writing my own course, considering the lack in the market. Maybe in a few years I’ll be talking about the Robuck high school IT program. 

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