Chris Winikka of Century High School named Technology Teacher of the Year for high school.
Chris Winikka teaches 9-12 grade high school students at Century High School in Hillsboro, Oregon with a student population of 1,551 students. Winikka has been a teacher for 25 years and is an extraordinary advocate for computer science and a leader in computer science and technology education across Oregon. He teaches various computer science classes which implement the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) curriculum designed to develop students' ability to think critically and solve problems using computational tools and concepts.
He is past President of the Oregon Computer Science Teachers Association (Oregon CSTA) and also participates in the Portland Area Career Technical Education Consortium (PACTEC). For the past 11 years, he has functioned as the after-school Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) club coaching clubs including Robotics (FTC), MESA, Software Entrepreneurs Club, Video Game Design, and Makerspace Clubs as well as promoting and supporting other after school STEAM-based programs run by other teachers. His teaching goal is to get more diverse and non-traditional students excited about computer science, who want to learn and use their passion to create and solve problems rather than just being consumers.
Click here to see a complete list of the TechStart technology teachers and students who won TechStart 2025 awards.