How did you get into CS?

My path to CS starts where some of our students might start their path - summer camp! When I first moved to Maryland, it was at the end of the school year and I was looking for a fun opportunity to work with students during the summer. I worked for a company that provided week-long tech camps for kids at community colleges around the state. I loved it. I used Scratch and physical computing devices for the first time, and immediately wanted to make sure my students had the same opportunities, even if they weren't able to pay for a camp. When fall came, I started in Prince George's County and was offered the opportunity through Title I to bring a robotics program to the students, where we embedded Scratch, too. My CS journey has continued from there! 

What are some interesting things that have happened to you as part of your journey as a CS teacher?

One of the best parts of working with CS has been meeting other teachers within the district and the state! I have loved working with other teachers while instructing MCCE courses. I have also instructed PDs within our district and have met excellent teachers who are doing innovative things in their classrooms. I have also loved bringing CS to the kids. Last year, I ran into one of my previous students who mentioned that they would be starting college majoring in computer science and mentioned the robotics club he was a part of with me (the same Title I after-school club mentioned above). It was just an amazing, full-circle moment! We all have moments like these, and I hope we all use them to fill our cups back up. 

What’s going well for you?

I have been fortunate enough to organize Prince George's County Public School's Level Up with Code Nights for the past three years. Teachers learn an activity and implement it virtually in small groups with students and their parents. It has been a great way to bring CS to many. We expanded our CSEdWeek offerings from just the Code Night to include a Night of AI, a CS Choice Board for students or teachers, and an in-person event at an elementary school that was a collaboration between reading and CS. Another project has been ensuring CS is accessible for all, especially our multilingual learners (ML). As the district with the most MLs in the state, we work hard to meet the needs of these learners. We offered two of our elementary schools an AI + Scratch for MLs cohort that allowed me to merge all of my passions. I hope to continue to do so as I continue my CS journey!