Jeffrey James Wile, Lititz, Pa.

Combining his passions for computer science and working with young people seemed like a natural decision for Jeffrey James Wile — he wanted to give students the same opportunity he had to learn computer science at an early age and hopefully shape their future interests.

In his time as a computer science educator and tech resource coach at Warwick School District, Wile has grown the high school computer science program from 40 students to more than 180 students, and increased the number of courses at the school from two to six unique courses. He says it was crucial to give as many students as possible opportunities to find a course that would serve their goals while helping them develop a passion for computer science.

“My job as a computer science educator is critical to work toward a future where the digital world is accessible and fair to everyone. We are already trying to fix a broken physical world, we need to fight now to prevent the digital world from breaking even more,” said Wile.

Wile has witnessed first-hand how a diverse team of technology professionals can solve problems that include, not exclude, and cites how imperative it is to train a diverse group of learners to be tomorrow’s professionals. 

“Computer science is a skill that everyone will use in the future and if we don’t begin to level the playing field now, inequities will continue to expand. I fear certain movements pushing to expand computer science unintentionally leave subsets of students out.”

This is what motivated Wile to establish a statewide computer science community through the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), working to remove barriers that restrict student access to computer science. He now serves as president of the CSTA Susquehanna Valley chapter, which has grown in membership from 29 educators to 90 educators in just two years.