The Power of a CS Teacher
Oscar Vanegas, Head of Product
Words from Our Leadership at this year’s 7th Annual CS Heroes Award Ceremony
On a day back in 2013, I had just finished teaching my 3rd-period science class. I was on my break, so I decided to take a peek at what was going on downstairs. On campus that day, some of my current and former students were being interviewed for what was described to me as a short film. I didn’t know the topic of the film, but I just had to see my students on camera. Their interviews started with simple questions like, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” They gave all the answers you’d expect from middle schoolers, a fashion designer, a basketball player, a doctor, and so on. Their interviews then pivoted to more specific questions about computer science. One after another, I saw my students unable to answer questions like, “What is computer science,” and “What do computer programmers do?” You see, the film's message was that computer science is an important subject that, at the time, wasn’t being taught in most schools. My school was no exception. In fact, our school only had one computer cart of 30 Chromebooks for the entire campus. Their message was received loud and clear on my end. Our students needed a computer science education.
As I went home that day, I remember thinking this had to change, but I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have a background in CS and the only person who did was our 7th-grade math teacher, who had a full course to teach. On that realization, I remember thinking, "I guess I’ll be a CS teacher." I signed up for an online programming class, decided to scrap my last science unit, and write my own coding curriculum, which I cobbled together with whatever free resources I could find online. Being that I’d only be about a month ahead of my students, I decided to be very open with them that I was learning too.
When the month finally came to start our CS unit, it couldn’t have gone any better. Our curriculum consisted of coding puzzles, unplugged activities, and classroom discussions. On some days, I’d even show them the projects I was working on in my class. I still remember the first project that I showed them, a simple, barebones to-do list app. I walked them through the code and proudly explained what I had learned. And that’s when one of my students raised her hand. I called on her and she said, “Good job for learning all that, but can you learn to make it look better?” As the month went along, and I endured more blunt feedback on my projects from the coldest middle managers I’ve ever had, I noticed how much more motivated my students were. This was most prominent during our discussions about the future. We’d talk about what a world built by code would look like and the roles they would play in building it. At the time, I chalked up their increased motivation to the novelty of what we were doing. In hindsight, I see it much differently now. You see, as a science teacher, my mission was to empower my students to understand the world through scientific thinking. As a CS teacher, I was also showing them how to shape it. What I was unknowingly providing for my students was a sense of agency they didn’t have before. That is the true power of a CS teacher. That’s what our CS heroes are providing for their students.
You could make the argument that a sense of agency is more important now than in 2013. I taught my first CS class against the backdrop of the tech optimism of the early 2010s. “There’s an app for that” was the saying at the time. Technology was changing how we connected with each other, consumed information, and moved about the world. The possibilities of what would come next felt endless in the best way possible. As the decade went on, though, sentiments shifted and with good reason. We’ve now seen how technology can be used to divide, distract, and even harm. We’ve all seen the headlines—algorithms that mislead, platforms that isolate, tools that outpace ethics. These aren’t just news clips on social media or distant stories; they’re lived experiences by real people. The world feels unstable right now, and above all, there’s the growing threat that we’re losing our agency.
In tough times, I think it’s important to find hope in any place we can find it, and to be quite honest with you, I see hope all around us. I see it in this space here tonight. While some use their technical skills to design systems and tools that exploit or exclude, there are others, many others, like you all of you at this event here tonight, who use your skills to build programs and tools that uplift, inform, connect, and empower.
And we need more people like you.
We need more people who can see the invisible systems behind the software they use, the news they read, and the services they rely on. We need more people who can ask hard questions about the algorithms that make their decisions, about how data is collected, and whose voices are left out of the design process. We need more people who can build, not just for profit, but for equity, for access, for the common good, because this is what it looks like to have agency in a CS driven world.
The question is, how do we build this society of informed citizens who can harness 21st-century skills for good? The answer is right in front of us. It’s our teachers.
They’re up before sunrise, making the commute to campus, prepping materials, and responding to emails. By 8:00 AM, they’re welcoming students, managing behavior, and guiding instruction. On a given day, an elementary school teacher is a science, math, ELA, and history teacher all rolled into one. They’re a PE coach, a nurse, a storyteller, a reading specialist, and so many other things. Above all they provide a safe place for their students to learn, no matter what may be going on outside in the world. The job doesn’t end when the bell rings, though. After school, they grade student work, attend meetings, communicate with parents, and write lessons. And yet, on top of all that, our 9 Dots teachers have chosen to become computer science teachers. They’ve chosen to step into a whole new discipline. That takes courage. And more than anything, it takes a deep belief in their students’ ability to shape the world because ultimately, this is NOT about CS, it’s about agency.
What our teachers do is no small feat. It requires effort, persistence, and commitment. But no one does this alone. Behind all of our teachers is the 9 Dots community, which is represented by so many people here tonight.
There are the designers who turn abstract ideas into meaningful learning experiences, ones that spark curiosity and make complex concepts feel accessible. There are the leaders, the people guiding the vision and making sure every student and every teacher is at the center of our work. There are the artists who create the worlds and characters that help students see themselves in the stories we tell and make them feel like they belong. There are the software developers, the builders behind the scenes, who create the platforms and tools that make our curriculum possible. There are the instructors who coach and uplift teachers, giving them not just the skills, but the confidence to teach computer science. And there are our supporters–all of you here–who make everyone’s work possible.
The 9 Dots community is here to support our teachers because we know the true power of a CS teacher. Agency doesn’t just appear on its own, it’s grown, nurtured, and sustained by teachers. Teachers who believe in their students. It’s our teachers who empower our students to rewrite the future. Thank you.