The newest computer science teacher hired for the 2022 – 2023 school year, Douglass Pibal, left his job during winter break of 2022-2023, leaving multiple computing classes without instruction; however, Joe Ciurlik from the social studies department has stepped up to fill the spot.

Pibal was the newest addition to the computer science wing, tasked with teaching several of the classes in the department. According to current computer science teacher Harry Palzewicz, Pibal was hired due to his ¨High passion for game design and cool side projects.” The CS wing was eager for a fresh approach to the game design class.¨

Palzewicz explained how Pibal announced his leaving the district ¨mid-way through the trimester with short notice, so we requested he stay until winter break.¨

Although Pibal did comply with the request, it was still challenging for Palzweicz and the department because ¨It’s hard to find a substitute with the correct qualifications on such short notice.¨

Because of the sudden departure of Pibal, there were many students left with incomplete education for the trimester. One such student, a junior in AP computer science, Aydan Creamer explained that ¨we had to restart from what we were learning in AP comp A instead of learning new material from B…after Pibal left, the class was taught by two computer science teachers…there were other classes he taught and those classes had online teachers.¨

Creamer said the kids with digital teachers ¨most definitely¨ got a worse education. This can again be attributed to the tough decision the department had to make ¨Given the situation we decided to ensure the AP classes got what they needed.¨

While finding a replacement for a class like Game Design was proving to be challenging, Ciurlik, history teacher, appeared to have a solution.

¨It was at a BLT meeting,” Ciurlik said, ¨I approached Mrs. Connelly and just let her know I had a masters degree in Computer Science education.¨

Ciurlik saw the challenging situation the CS department was going through, so he decided to volunteer himself to teach some of the classes as ¨it was what was best for the kids.¨

Ciurlik admits his knowledge of the subject is ¨from the late 90s, so it’s limited,¨ but he keeps an open mind to learning new things.

¨There is a lot of leaning on my colleagues (Mrs. Connely and Mr. Ciurlik), but also a lot of personal inquiry. If a student asks me a question I don´t know, I admit that I don´t know it, but then that night I learn for myself so that I can help them the next day,¨ Ciurlik said. ¨I want people to know that trying new things is a part of life, whether it is a student trying out a new club, or a teacher teaching a class he has never taught before.¨