People who walk through the back hall of the CTE building find their eyes prying through the large window with the rows of huge desktops, where students are found aggressively typing out code. Although, this year there is something different in the air. Room E165 has a new computer science teacher.
Hannah O’Neill, also the assistant aquatics coach, moved to be a Career and Technology teacher. This is O’Neill’s third year at Creek, previously teaching Honors Geometry and Algebraic Reasoning, and this year teaches computer science.
“I love all my students. So far, I’ve had the best time in education,” O’Neill said. “I loved seeing kids wanting to learn. Kids in math say ‘ugh its math today’. In this class, they are like I want to try this. They’re wanting to show up and work on what they’re doing, versus ‘I have to go to math today and take notes.’”
Compared to other CCISD schools, Creek has a smaller computer science program. There haven’t been enough students to even make up the Cybersecurity class, because there are not enough students who meet the prerequisite of two years of computer science.
“I’m trying to keep kids engaged in what they’re doing,” O’Neill said. “This is something you can do forever, and you can always rely back on coding. It looks great on every resume. You’re trying to get a job, and you know how to code in any language, employers will be more likely to hire you. Cybersecurity would be really fun to have at Creek. I want to offer more classes.”
O’Neill wants to engage more girls in the class. Even though, the first person to ever code was Ada Lovelace, a woman, there are only under ten girls in all computer science classes.
“Every single tech development is male dominated,” O’Neill said. “I feel like women get shied away from it, and they’re like ‘this is not for me’, which isn’t true. It 100% is for them.”
Walking into O’Neill’s classroom, one can see the décor is quite different from last year. There are pink decorations all around the classroom.
“This whole pod is male dominated, like it’s the engineering pod,” O’Neill said. “That’s why I put pink all over my classroom, to bring some life and a women’s view point out here.”
With today’s society, being increasingly dependent on technology, computer science is one of the fastest growing fields out there. With its rapidly evolving nature, new technological advancements, and trends that are always being added. The field is one of the most popular in regard to the world’s future to study.
“Computer science is huge for students as they go into college, and into any field,” O’Neill said. “I learned over the summer that in Louisiana, they are requiring students to take half credit of some sort of coding throughout the year. We’re going towards that, requiring some sort of foundation for coding. It’s like learning a new language, and it counts as a language and a math credit.”
It can be scary going into something that is held in high regard and new, but now that there is a fresh perspective it could be the perfect opportunity for students to discover or rediscover computer science.
“I have plenty of space in my classes,” O’Neill said. “Come excited, ready to learn. You are going to learn things you haven’t before. You look at a website, and you wonder how did they do that? It’s a lot easier than you think it is. There is a place for everyone here.”
O’Neill is ready for the new era of computer science and hopes it becomes one of the most popular programs in the future. New opportunities and experiences await those willing to get lost into the world of coding.
