ECS Forum Introductions (16-17 school year)

My name is Ampor Hyun. I have been a high school math teacher for 6 years. Last year I taught IDS (Intro to Data Science) for the first time. In IDS students learned statistical concepts using a coding language called R. I am excited to teach ECS because I am interested in learning more about computer science myself. In my past time I enjoy sleeping because I don’t get enough of it! When I do get enough sleep, I enjoy riding my bike along the beach and spending time in my backyard or fixing up my house.

Hello,
My name is Torres, I’ve been teaching for 8 years at Summit H.S. I enjoy family, golf, and computers.

My name is Jeff Wester. I teach high school Engineering in Pomfret, Maryland. I am excited to see what I can learn about CS and Programming that I can bring to the classroom.

Hi! My name is Veritas Bennett and I just completed my first year of teaching. I work at Shortridge IB School in Indianapolis as an Engineering Technology Teacher. I enjoy relaxing and spending time with my family.

My in-laws live in Park City, UT. Salt Lake City is beautiful.

My name is Ashley Purpura and I will be teaching at GALA (Girls Academic Leadership Academy), a brand new all-girls STEM school in LAUSD, this upcoming year. I have taught math at a high school in south central Los Angeles for the past two years. I love going to the movies, spending time with friends and family, and playing my new favorite game, Settlers of Catan!

My name is John and I have been teaching for 25 years in Los Angeles. I am looking forward to the summer workshop and learning coding to teach it to my students.

Hi, my name is Daren Kitajima, and I’m currently a physics teacher at Venice High School in Los Angeles. This will be my 19th year of teaching, and 13th year of teaching physics. I’m looking forward to a little change.

Most of my free time is playing with my 3 and 6 year old kids, and I also love cycling and playing guitar and saxophone.

Hi John,
Where in Los Angeles do you teach? I’ll probably see you tomorrow at the workshop…

I’m Roger and I teach at Riverglen Jr High in Boise, Idaho. I teach math and computer classes. I love mountain biking.

Hello, my name is Bill and I teach at the Academy of Construction and Engineering. This is my 14th year of teaching subjects such as MOS, Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, and Business.

Hello All!
My name is Joe Kovac, I grew up in Upstate New York, but found myself in central VA two years ago. I’ve been teaching six years, teaching students math from elementary to college-level.

When I’m not teaching, I enjoy spending time cycling, camping, and enjoying time with my family!

Same here. I love all things tech as well. I teach Digital Design 1-5 at Fernandina Beach High School

Hello. My name is Rachel Baron and I have been teaching tech ed for the past 13 years with 10 of those years in Talbot County MD. I will be teaching this course and IED which both will be new to me.

My name is Sarah Rasich. I have been the Academic Technologist at Saint Gertrude High School in Richmond for three years. We are just beginning to build our CS program and last year I taught three sections of a nine week “Concepts in Coding” class. I also enjoying being a docent at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts a block away from school.

My name is Chad Moore and I’m from Houston, TX. In my spare time, I love to play basketball, watching movies (documentaries, comedy, action), spending time with family.

Hello my name is Karyn and I teach High School Programming and Econ. & Personal Finance. I enjoy reading, learning new computer languages, gardening, knitting and sewing in my spare time. Looking forward to learning new ways to teach computer science to my students.

Good Afternoon everyone,
My name is Chevon and I teach business classes in Henrico county Virginia. One of my favorite hobbies is swimming. I am really looking forward to learning more about coding.

I am Debbie Corbridge. I teach at Hunter Jr. High in West Valley City, Utah. I will be teaching Creative Coding next year along with other business classes. I spend several days a month helping my husband run a sound/dj hobby business. When I am not teaching or doing a sound gig, I like to play the piano, camp, boat, craft and watch old movies.

Hi, I’m James Nugent. I retired from the Navy in 2002, took two years off to travel and during this time I met my wife, decided to get certified as a teacher and began teaching chemistry in 2006 in RI. From there we moved to MD and I started teaching chemistry at Winston Churchill HS in Montgomery County MD. Last year I shifted over to technology (the why of this is too complicated to get into here) teaching Designing Technology Solutions. Next year I’ll be teaching ECS and going back to two sections of chemistry, so this will be an interesting crossing over experience for me. I love reading, traveling, and trying to figure out how to stay on top of my 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son.