Who am I and why am I running for the CSTA Board? I am someone who is deeply committed to computer science education. As an educator, as a software professional, and as someone who sees himself as a computer science education activist, I have been involved in the field of computer science my whole adult life. The field has been good to me and I want to give back. One way I believe I can give back is by working to support CS education and CS educators as a member of the CSTA board.
Roughly 18 years ago, following roughly 18 years working as a software professional, I entered the teaching profession. Over a 9 year period I taught computer science and computer usage to students from kindergarten through high school. Most of that time I taught high school computer science including the APCS course. During that time I was able to meet many wonderful teachers at professional development events and conferences around the country. In part that experience lead me to a 9 year sojourn back in industry where my job was to help CS educators with curriculum, some occasional hardware, some training and most of all a lot of free professional software. During this time I was able to meet with even more outstanding teachers, administrators and industry leaders in all parts of the country. This was an awesome learning experience for me. I have tried to share what I have learned with others as much as I can. I think we all need to share in order for the field of CS education to flourish.
These days I am back in the classroom trying to fill high school students heads with knowledge of and excitement for computer science. It is also time for me to get even more involved with CSTA. I have been involved in the CSTA Conference since the early years of the CS & IT Symposium as an attendee, as a speaker and a member of the program committee. I have attended and spoken at CSTA chapter meetings in several states as well. Today I feel that I can and should be even more active in the governance of the organization I respect very much.
With previous experience on education related boards (a school board, district budget committee) advisory board memberships for universities and career technical high schools and membership on working groups like the ACM/IEEE CS 2013 Curriculum task force, I bring significant experience to the CSTA Board; a working board if ever there was one. As an At large member of the Board it will be my responsibility to represent a broad cross-section of the CSTA membership. I feel as though it is a role for which I have been preparing for over the last several years. I hope you’ll support me with your vote.
Alfred Thompson
At-Large Candidate for the CSTA Board