Last month, Upper Campus computer science teacher Christine Tran received the Sarah D. Barder Fellowship Award for her work in teaching computer science to students over the past 20 years. It was created by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth, a program designed to provide challenging courses to gifted students. The award is given to 10 applicants selected from a pool of teachers who have been nominated by CTY participants.
“This program recognizes teachers who discover and keep talented youth engaged and interested in whatever they want to pursue,” Tran said.
Tran was surprised when she was nominated by junior Soha Budhani. The nomination, which included an essay written by Budhani, inspired Tran to complete the rest of the application without any expectations of winning.
“It’s not just you checking the box,” Tran said. “I felt I had to complete my application because…my student took time and effort to write the essay and to nominate me.”
For Budhani, Tran’s nomination was a reflection of how gifted she is as a teacher.
“Tran truly understands her students—not just how we learn, but who we are as people,” Budhani said. “She finds the perfect balance between kindness and humor with a strength that commands respect.”
Winning this award has opened new doors for Tran, with her receiving an invite to the annual Sarah D. Barder Conference. There, fellows or teachers who have received the award can take advantage of professional development opportunities and learn from other like-minded instructors.
Once a fellow, a teacher is invited to attend the conference for life. After initially flying to Las Vegas to receive the award, Tran said she is most excited for the chance to meet and learn from similar teachers at the conference.
“For me, it was all about the community of teachers and working together with them,” Tran said. “I’m most excited about meeting other teachers… and…teachers that teach different things.”
Tran would like to credit her students for working their hardest in her classes and pushing her to teach more.
“I’ll thank my kids and my students because they try to push themselves,” Tran said. “They recognize that they want more.”
Inspired by her award, Tran wants to develop a more creative and unconventional computer science curriculum at Pinewood.
“I want a class that attracts students with more design intuition,” Tran said. “Not only designing fashion or clothing that you wear, but also with the electronic and code computing component in it.”
Above all, Tran hopes to make her computer science classes more accessible to non-STEM students.
“I want to attract students who are not just STEM focused, but creative art focused, creative problem solving, girls, and people who think that coding is hard,” Tran said.
