Many of the students here at Victor take a Computer Science class during their high school careers. Beginning with Computer Science one and two and ending with an Advanced Placement (AP) class, Comp Sci is becoming a more and more relevant course to take in our increasingly computerized world. In fact, the Comp Sci course has already grown to fit another class, and will likely continue to grow as the years pass.
To answer some questions about the course and himself, I sat down with Victor Senior High School’s Computer Science teacher, Mr. Wuest.
Contrary to what you might expect from a Computer Science teacher, Mr. Wuest entered college in order to become a Biomedical Engineer at the University of Rochester. He soon felt like the career didn’t really suit him, stating “I always wanted to be a teacher in the back of my mind. Both my parents were teachers–it was kind of in the family.”
Mr. Wuest followed his gut feeling, and became a teaching assistant for a Calculus course at the University of Rochester. That experience inspired him greatly, and directly led him to pursue a career as a teacher. He eventually decided to teach at Victor.
Mr. Wuest takes a unique approach to teaching. He believes that hands-on work is the best way to learn, and by trial and error you grow through your experiences. Using this philosophy, Mr. Wuest’s full Computer Science course is entirely project based.
Computer Science is a very interesting course itself, and Mr. Wuest believes that every student should take at least one of the classes throughout their high school career. He explains that the course doesn’t only teach you the basics of computer programming, but also the “deconstruction and reconstruction of problems at a primitive level, and putting the pieces together… [This class] is applicable to every major and every area of study.”
Mr. Wuest recently launched a new installment in the Computer Science course last year, the class called Data Structures and Algorithms (which is quite a mouthful, so most just call it DSA). This new course loosely follows the second semester college material taught in many local colleges such as RIT, which is very useful for those looking to pursue a career in computer science. However, Mr. Wuest explains that it is more open ended than AP Computer Science, with no need to conform to an AP exam in May. He describes DSA as a “last step” and a “final run” for students who have taken and enjoyed the other Computer Science courses, where you can apply all your knowledge and have fun learning higher level topics.
However, DSA might not be the last new class added to Mr. Wuest’s plate. Although not finalised and approved by the board of education and curriculum council, a new Computer Science class utilizing the popular programming language Python instead of Java (which is used from CS1 – DSA) has been talked about. Of course, adding a new class is a lot of work and will take some time, if it does get approved. The main goal of this new class is to address one of the only missing points in the course, which is fundamental knowledge of Python.
With an increased number of classes that he is needed to teach, and an ever growing interest in programming in the student body, Mr. Wuest is no longer the only Computer Science teacher. Mr. Ingalls, a Mathematics and Statistics teacher, has also added a number Comp Sci one and two classes to his diverse profile of courses.
Despite being committed to helping students learn the content of their courses, Mr. Wuest finds time between curriculum and projects to share important lessons that many will find extremely useful later in life. He shares personal experiences in order to prepare them for their personal and professional lives outside of the classroom, and urges his students to think about their own values.
Specifically for himself, these values lie with his family. He has three children, Madison, Lucas, and Mackenzie. Mr. Wuest explains, “they’re my ‘Why.’ Why I do everything,” and that “they are going to carry on our legacy. Hopefully all the stuff I’ve learned I can pass down to them.”
In conclusion, Mr. Wuest impacts the lives of all the students that he teaches. It is no surprise that one of his former students nominated him for this year’s University of Chicago outstanding educator award, and he was one of the recipients!
