I was the administrator who assembled one of the most successful and nationally recognized computer science programs by recruiting passionate and dedicated teachers, creating diverse curricular offerings with emphasis on serving students previously underrepresented in computer science. I provided students with a quality education in computing as a critical part of their high school experience, offering ten unique honors level courses. Collaborated with teachers and partners to establish the first ever Makers Lab in Chicago Public Schools.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Supervised all of Computer Science department resources, and support excellence in teaching and research.
Lead in effective recruiting of talented faculty and students, and vigorously develop further the Department’s collaborations and relationship across and outside the districts and with Universities and industry.
Promote diversity in STEAM related fields.
Enthusiastically promote creativity, innovation and outreach.
Effective advocate and spokesperson for the department, both within and beyond the school and CPS.
Responsible for development and oversight for all CS curricula.
Lead coordinator for CS programs curriculum development, program assessment, program development, and leadership.
Assisted with faculty mentoring, training, recruitment, retention, and evaluation.
Developed class schedules and faculty workload assignments.
Lead strategic planning activities.
Attended appropriate industry conferences as funding permits.
Attended University open house functions.
Secured internship opportunities for students.
Provided academic advising for program students.
Computer Science is a field of study that reaches into both theory and practice. There is not a single aspect of our society that doesn’t benefit from the practical side of computing. Computing has affected how we communicate with each other on a personal level and on a mass scale. Everything from smartphones to tablets to the movies you watch today. They are all heavily affected by the field of Computer Science. Computing has even affected how we perform even the smallest tasks during the course of our everyday lives. Everything from hybrid cars to the clothes you are wearing to the food you ate for breakfast. All these products are only possible now because of what computer scientists do.
It is what drives our society into the future. Being a user and consumer of technology has become the norm. From a more abstract point of view, Computer Science can be seen as the science of problem-solving. Students of the field will develop skills in pattern recognition, modeling and analyzing problems.
Our goal is to turn the consumers and users of technology today into the creators and makers of technology of tomorrow.
Lane Tech CS Course Offerings:
Exploring Computer Science
Media Computation
Web Development I
Web Development II
Computer Programming I (UIC college bridge dual-credit)
Advanced Placement Computer Science
Elements of Computing Systems
Android Apps Development
Physical Computing
Innovation and Creation Lab
THE TEAM:
Robert Berg
Vellerie Curry
David Hayes
Leon Kim
Daniel Law
Jennifer Roscoe
Jeff Solin
Amy Wozniak
WHAT ARE STUDENTS ARE DOING:
Brian Magerko’s TEDx Talk: One
NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award: Three, Seven, and Six.
AspireIT: Nine and Forty
Girls Who Code Club: Four and Twenty
Technovation Challenge
Chicago Maker Challenge
Clean Tech Competition
FIRST Robotics Competition Team
ID Scanner Android App
CS4ALL Accelerate Event
WHAT OUR TEACHERS ARE DOING:
Women in CS Conference (2nd Annual)
CS Open House (3rd Annual)
CS Ed Week Workshop Series
Tech Art Club
Competition Programming Team(s)
Hosted annual Chicago Maker Summit
Jeff just won the NCWIT Educator Award
Speaker at World Maker Faire in NYC
All five are PD facilitators for Code.org (ECS and AP CSP)
All five are PD facilitators for NSF-funded ECS program
ORDCamp
FIRST Robotics Competition Team
Setting up partnership with CoderEXP
All five are PD facilitators for Code.org (ECS and AP CSP)
All five are PD facilitators for NSF-funded ECS program
FIRST Robotics Competition Team
SIGCSE 2016
National ECS Conference in Vegas (Funded by NSF)
NCWIT National Conference in Vegas
Annual “Woz’s Mixx-Off” Competition
City-wide ECS Competition (2nd annual)
International Scratch Day Fair
Computer Science Fair (3rd Annual)
ACTIVE PARTNERSHIPS
University of Illinois at Chicago, DePaul University
Collaborators with SRI to develop a national assessment for ECS
Collaborators with a research study on “The Efficacy of Blocks-based Programming” with Northwestern University.
Advisory Board on NSF grant with Northwestern University that deals with research on Making education and spatial thinking
Advisory Board on NSF grant with Indiana University and the Science Museum of Minnesota researching the role of failure in Design and Making
UChicago study: Bringing AP Computer Science Principles to Students with Learning Disabilities and/or ADHD: The Hidden Underrepresented Group
Argonne National Labs
Motorola Solutions
News and Articles
Damir Ara Online Portfolio 