Meet Our Facilitators
Steve Cox
A high school job as a draftsman led to BS and MS degrees in Engineering en route to discovering my deeper interest in Mathematics. Following a PhD I spent 28 years as a professor of Computational & Applied Mathematics at Rice University in Houston. While there I served for 10 years as College Magister of a residential college of 300 undergraduates. I also served as founding director of the Rice Center for Teaching Excellence and as adjunct professor of Neuroscience at the neighboring Baylor College of Medicine. I moved to Northern New Mexico College in 2015 and now teach Engineering and nudge my students into sharing their knowledge and path with our local K12 students and teachers.
Melody Hagaman
For over a decade, Melody has worked to expand equity and access to computer science in her school, district, state, and nationally. She began her teaching career as a middle school science teacher and fell in love with computer science when she started sponsoring an after school computational modeling club. That spark continued as she transitioned to high school, where she spent the last ten years teaching computer science courses and developing recruitment strategies and curricula to appeal to all students.
Melody has been leading professional development almost as long as she has been teaching. She has led workshops including Project GUTS, UVa’s Tapestry and Lighthouse programs, Code.org’s CS in Science, and NMSU’s CompThink. She is now employed as a facilitator with BootUp PD, a nonprofit providing high-quality CS PD to elementary and middle school educators.
Amy Traylor
Amy is an artist, educator, researcher, and mom who specializes in making and teaching art and computation. She earned an MA in Art Education and an MFA in Experimental Art and Technology at UNM and is currently working on a PhD in computational thinking. Amy is a Level 3 Master teacher, teaching in NM since 2004 at both the high school and college level.
Christy Snell
Hello! My name is Christy Snell. I have worked for Albuquerque Public Schools for 25+ years as an E.A Tech, Technology Coordinator, and CSN1 at the elementary school level. I truly enjoy Computer Science and absorb as much content as I can through PD opportunities. All children should have the opportunity to learn about CS and understand its relationship and use in all content areas- Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. My goal is to spark interest in CS at the elementary school level and provide paths for those students who want to learn more about this field. I myself am extremely motivated and enjoy learning as much as I can about CS and sharing this with students and educators. Making CS fun is my goal and using a Maker Centered Learning approach allows me to create challenges and activities that involves all students using hands-on approaches to enhance CS understanding.
Dixie Cooper
Taught 7th-8th Web Development at APS. Completed a full stack web development bootcamp at CNM. Started working for CSA in 2020 and recently became a code.org Computer Science Discoveries facilitator. I love to teach others about the amazing ways coding can be integrated into any classroom!
Susan Gibbs
I am a retired middle school teacher in Santa Fe, who loves connecting with teachers and kids to explore complex systems and computer science. All students should have the chance to learn computer science and how it relates to every other subject they study in school.
Amanda Dunlap
My name is Amanda Dunlap. I am the Business and Computer Education Teacher at Corona High School in Corona, NM. I am a ranch wife and mom to 4 boys. This is part of the reason I have a passion for Computer Science Education. Coming from a small school district and wanting to provide my students with as many opportunities as possible to help equip their arsenals is the other half of my passion for Computer Science Education. In this digital age, I want my own children, as well as my students, to realize that they can be so much more than just consumers of technology and they will make way more money if they are also creators of technology. As a code.org facilitator and a member of NM-CSTA, I hope to advocate for CS education and encourage teachers to be confident in integrating CS education in their classrooms.
Paige Prescott
Co-founder and Executive Director — As Executive Director of the newly formed Computer Science Alliance, she is interested in strengthening the community of people involved in computer science education and advocating in New Mexico, especially in support of the underserved areas in rural and tribal communities. She has been the President of the Computer Science Teachers Association of New Mexico (CSTA-NM) and is pursuing a PhD in Learning Sciences at UNM where she is focusing on computer science education. Paige has trained over 1000 teachers in NM around the US and to bring computer science to their students K-8. She was recognized by the New Mexico Tech Council Women in Technology Honoree for her work in CS education
Yolanda Lozano
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer — After getting an undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, working at Rice University and getting a Masters at Carnegie Mellon University, Yolanda worked at several high tech startups for over 15 years. After retiring, she began teaching programming as a volunteer at her son’s elementary school. Eventually it became apparent that this was not only fun, but that there was a real need for CS teachers in the school systems. Thus began the crusade to teach programming and aid teachers in their ability to work with technology! She currently teaches AP CSP and AP CSA and volunteers in whatever capacity needed to spread the support and knowledge to teachers, administrators, and students interested in Computer Science. She is a CODE.org facilitator, the president of CSTA NM and always working to expand her horizons via technology.
Meet Our Board
John Mierzwa
CEO & Co founder @ Ingenuity Software Labs
Jon Juarez
Dept Chair: Computer and IT, Dona Ana Community College
Rebecca Koskela
OUR SUPPORTERS
