Judson Birkel of South Salem High School named Technology Teacher of the Year for high school
Judson Birkel has been a teacher for 14 years and teaches courses to 9-12 grade high school students at South Salem High School in Salem, Oregon with a student population of approximately 2,000 students. He teaches various computer science (CS) classes including Game Development (GML), Web Development (HTML/CSS), Web App Development (HTML/CSS/JS), Robotics Programming (VEX EXP), Programming Fundamentals (Python), CS 1/2/3 (Java), Issues & Ethics in Technology, Unified Computer Technology, and Advanced Projects (Web/CS/Robotics). Additionally, he teaches the new Higher Education and Career Pathways (HECPS) class using the IB MYP Personal Project program.
Birkel provides students with technical training as well as opportunities for CS exploration so students may find something they love. His CS courses offer activities so students can experience computer science in action by building web pages, building web apps, building, and coding robots, or preparing for programming contest challenges. He also teaches computational and Java courses that prepare students for college or working in industry with critical thinking classes including Ethics & Issues in Technology where students get to explore the hot topics of today such as cybersecurity, AI, cell phones, and smart homes. In 2025, he taught a CSIII course which prepared students to take the AP CS A test. Of the group of seven students taking the course, five of them were female.
In addition to teaching CS courses, Birkel is a robotics coach for VEX Robotics Teams every year. He acts as the TSA (Technology Student Association) advisor for his school. He also prepares students for participation in the George Fox University High School Programming Contest. “ I encourage students to apply for the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) award every year, having received the educator's award myself in 2019,” states Bickel.
Birkel has been actively involved with the Oregon Computer Science Teachers Association (OCSTA) since 2015 and has participated in planning groups for conferences. He led OCSTA workshops at conferences on Web Design, Game Design, Birds of a Feather, Teaching Pedagogy, and AI including sessions at the OCSTA 2026 Spring Conference.
Future Goals
Birkel indicates, “I want to be an AI literacy advocate. AI is the fastest growing technology, moving at a pace we never imagined. My goal is to study as much as I can about AI and its impact on society so that I can be the go-to-guru on AI's impact in education.”
Click here to see a complete list of the TechStart technology teachers and students who won TechStart 2026 awards.