Stephanie Partlow and Linda Barney, Barney and Associates

TechStart provides annual awards to K-12 computer science teachers and high school students. Each TechStart Technology Teacher of the Year awardee receives a cash award of $1,000 for their classroom to spend on tech education materials including hardware, software, services, or curriculum. In 2024, Stephanie Partlow received the TechStart Rising Star Technology Teacher of the Year for her computer science program at Woodburn High School in Woodburn, Oregon. Stephanie developed a computer science curriculum for students in an urban setting where many students need to learn English as a second language and have not been introduced to computer science concepts or opportunities.

“TechStart was proud to give Stephanie this award. Teaching Computer Science at the high school level is important because it fosters problem-solving skills, teamwork, and creativity while making coding exciting and competitive. It challenges students to apply logic and algorithms to real-world problems, enhancing their computational thinking. There is no doubt that we live in a tech-driven world and these students are the future members of our technical workforce who earn six figure salaries. K-12 computer science programs such as the one Stephanie Partlow teaches are important to prepare students for the future,” states John Tortorici, TechStart Chair of the Board.

How Partlow Spent the TechStart Award to Aid Students

By Stephanie Partlow

First off, I want to thank TechStart again for this award. It came at the perfect time when I was just about to officially launch our Computer Science CTE program at Woodburn High School. This award put computer science on the radar of our students, district, and community and my enrollment doubled from around 50 students to about 100 students this year. Students start in Computer Science Intro which is both dual credit for CS160 through the Willamette Promise program and counts as a "plus 1" third- or fourth-year math class towards high school graduation requirements as it incorporates both high school math standards and college discrete math standards. After completing this Intro course, students can choose to take AP Computer Science A, Computer Science Capstone, or Web Page Design.

I used the TechStart award of $1,000 to purchase a new iPhone 16 pro for my classroom. This year I piloted a Computer Science Capstone course focused on iOS app development with six students. The students had an absolute blast learning Apple's programming language and development tools. They worked with industry professionals to design and test an app and spent all of the second semester developing it. Four of these apps–FeelTrack, MotorBuddy, Style'Lynn, and GoalReach–are now available on the Apple iOS App Store! This year we got two classroom iPhones so students could test their apps. Next year I have over 20 students signed up so I will need more phones! I was able to splurge on an iPhone 16 pro with the TechStart grant that comes with a LiDAR scanner and the ability to take 3D video and photos. I have also been selected to receive an MWEC Project Grant for next year, which will be funded with Perkins V grant dollars (pending final Oregon Department of Education (ODE) approval this summer). The grant will support the purchase of a few Apple Vision Pros—Apple’s virtual reality goggles–and this iPhone 16 pro will enable our students to create 3D content for the Vision Pros as well as to continue to develop and test iOS apps.