Tamar M.

I am a former mechanical engineer who worked in R&D for a company that manufactured medical implants. I helped to develop a manufacturing process for Johnson & Johnson DePuy's Marathon™ Polyethylene. I left engineering and became a secondary mathematics teacher; starting in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, my alma mater, and finally landing in the Plum Borough School District. I have been teaching for almost 20 years. Throughout my career, I have worn many hats: 7th-grade math teacher, elementary math coach, high school math teacher, assistant high school band director, technology coach, and Department Leader of both mathematics (past) and CS/BCIT/TechEd (current). A few years ago, I started integrating coding into my math classes. My work on coding in my classes has culminated in facilitating a session at PETE&C 2020. I was one of the first teachers in Pennsylvania to obtain the new 7-12 Computer Science Teacher Certification. I am teaching AP CSA, AP CSP, Intro to Cybersecurity, CS1: Python, and Honors Mobile Apps. When I am not in my classroom, I spend my time working closely with ABC Create, a consortium of 14 school districts in the Alle-Kiski region of Western PA, to provide experiences for teachers and students in STEM/Computer Science. I co-authored an article in Connected Science Learning about our experiences in the first year with the camp, which was designed for middle school girls. I am also a peer tutor for PA teachers seeking the new CS Teaching Certification. I am the president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of CSTA and a STEM Ambassador for Pennsylvania. I have been encouraging girls to pursue STEM/CS opportunities for almost 20 years because representation matters.