Meet the New CompuPower Teachers
On June 24th-25th, 2019, four teachers, from rural parts of Arizona met in the heart of Tempe at the CGEST headquarters to partake in an immersive and interactive teacher professional development. The two-day experience was led by CGEST’s CompuPower Executive Coordinator, Matt Ruf; Education Outreach Specialist, Gabrielle Swindle; and Postdoctoral Fellow/Curriculum Designer, Dr. Kristin Elwood. According to CGEST’s Founder, Executive Director, and creator of CompuPower, Dr. Kimberly Scott, CompuPower “provides a culturally responsive Technology & Leadership elective course that aims to do two things - expose underrepresented students to a wide-variety of technologies and build upon their leadership skills to bring about positive changes within their communities.” In short, the program encourages students to work together to use new and innovative technologies that raise awareness about community issues they care about. As an offshoot from the nationally recognized, COMPUGIRLS program founded in 2007, CompuPower maintains the primary COMPUGIRLS idea that youth can be technosocial change agents. and implements them in an in-class, mixed-gender environment.
The teachers at the CompuPower professional development introduced themselves and shared their passions for teaching. Every teacher used some form of the word “love” to describe his or her entrance into the teaching world. Cory, who teaches at Show Low High School, is an engineer with a passion for math and robotics. He is committed to making a difference in students' lives! Jacob, from Sequoia Pathway Academy, believes teaching is a way to give back and “loves” teaching his passion, music. Jodi, from Pima High School, confessed she’s always “loved” the sciences growing up and is currently teaching in her alma mater in the same room she discovered her passion for science and teaching!
Lisa, a Miami High School teacher, is the only CompuPower veteran, having taught the class last year. She shared that she fell in “love” with the program and attended this year’s training with an open mind and a desire to share feedback of her experiences in a CompuPower classroom. Each teacher holds a unique identity which showcases the diversity within their classrooms and locations across Arizona. What inspired me the most was how open-minded, excited, and passionate they were about their students and their jobs. Despite being on summer break themselves, they took time away from their second jobs and hobbies to learn ways to build their own tech literacies and teacher their students fun ways to mix technology, social awareness, and learning through team-based activities.
In the first day of the training, the teachers completed a series of individual and group activities from the CompuPower curriculum. First day activities focused on identity expression by creating what the curriculum has called an Identity Figure. Each teacher created a large hand-drawn picture of images, phrases, key-words, or doodles that they felt represented who they are. They then gracefully presented their figures as if they were in their students’ shoes. Jacob shared his deep love for music by drawing music notes. He also wrote some “signature quotes” that he uses non-stop in the classroom.
All activities were meant to showcase the ease, fun, and most importantly the challenging parts of the course their students might face. In other words, the teachers became students, experiencing CompuPower lessons from the perspective of the youngsters who will be enrolled in the course. It was incredibly humbling to see teachers who had an interest in learning themselves. These teachers showed their dislike for complacency in the classroom by diving into CompuPower head first with questions, comments, and personal connections to parts of the program.
The second day involved presentations from Mitzi Vilchis, a former CompuGirl, and Mark Lozoya, a CompuPower Industry Mentor from the Intel Chandler Campus. Both speakers talked about their experiences with CGEST but through very different programs and times in their lives. Mitzi spoke mainly about how CompuGirls changed her life: “We had people in Sweden that were also able to see our projects. So, for high school girls to be able to present [their projects] and feel important in their community but also far away was a great experience!” With Mitzi’s experience with CompuGirls, and her graduation from the program more than ten-years ago, her remarks impressed the new teachers and showed the long-lasting importance and impact of a culturally responsive technology course.
Mark Lozoya, also known at CGEST as “the hype man,” spoke to the teachers about his experience as a CompuPower Industry Mentor. He expressed his love for sharing what he does with students and opening them up to opportunities in STEM and beyond: “We allow students to tour labs and key leading industry careers. Students get to engage with actual professionals from Intel. It was really cool to see them so engaged and excited!” Lisa, who has taught CompuPower before, chimed in during his presentation to emphasize the fun and excitement her students had after visiting with Mr. Loyoza. Both Mitizi and Mark evoked excitement from the teachers as well as a new sense of clarity about the importance of CompuPower as something more than a technology class.
As a CGEST-summer intern, what I took away from the experience has profoundly influenced my views on culturally relevant education. In particular, I have gained new insight that I plan to implement in my studies at Smith College this upcoming Fall. In my seminar-style classes, often times students discuss the short-comings of their high school education and feel as though they were not “seen” in their classrooms and/or communities. I find myself reflecting on similar experiences and, now, wishing I had a course like CompuPower available to me.
CompuPower students are seen in a positive manner within their communities and classrooms. The program highlights the strengths of each student by igniting the power within their communities and themselves. It appears that culturally responsive teaching creates culturally responsive members of society that have the ability to find where they belong in any setting. It is also creating a space by authoring their experiences as not all of us can find belongingness. As I continue to pursue my degree in Government with a certificate in Reproductive Health Rights and Justice, I will forever be moved by the willingness of the new teachers and CompuPower students to adopt culturally responsive methods for the betterment of their communities and, from my perspective, society as a whole.
