Tyree Alexander: Inspiring and Encouraging Others to Engage in "Productive Struggle"
The Cognizant Foundation and Teach For America are proud to recognize the inaugural winners of the Cognizant Innovation in Computer Science Education Awards—these awards identify PK-12 educators and leaders who have demonstrated measurable impact expanding access to and advocating for computer science education.
Below is a profile of award winner Tyree Alexander, instructional team leader and peer collaborative coach at Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science in Queens Village, New York.
In his third year of teaching, Tyree Alexander introduced computer science as a 12th-grade elective after noticing that many of his students lacked basic computing skills, with some viewing computers not as a tool, but rather an obstacle.
Since then, and through continued efforts to hone his skills and content knowledge as a computer science teacher, he has helped secure sustainable partnerships with organizations such as CS4ALL, Mouse, Exploring Computer Science, Code/Interactive, The Knowledge House and Microsoft TEALS.
Many of Tyree’s students have historically been denied access to essential services, opportunities and information because of their zip code—and Tyree believes that computer science offers a unique opportunity to address some of these systemic issues that plague the lives of students in and beyond his school.
“My students represent a broad spectrum of talent, interests, gender identities, race and ethnicities,” said Tyree. “I consistently strive to ensure that our work in computer science is rigorous, engaging, relevant, supportive, and fun, and aids in our school's goal to develop compassionate and critical thinkers.”
He has also worked as an ambassador with CodeMonkey, where he demonstrates for teachers how the program makes coding more accessible to students. Most importantly to him, he has returned to many of the same summer programs that he participated in to help train the next cohort of computer science teachers in order to create a lasting impact in the field.
Tyree hopes that others are reminded that all students deserve equitable access to computer science education—and that computer science educators learn that exposure and meaningful experiences, not evaluations, are the hallmarks of a good education.
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Meet all of the winners
Learn more about the other educators and innovators recognized as the inaugural winners of the Cognizant Innovation in Computer Science Education Awards: