EAST ST. LOUIS — When Josh Cummins went to college, he jumped into the deep end with computer coding classes. It didn’t go well at the time.
But now, the East St. Louis High School math teacher is being recognized for increasing access to computer science classes for girls.
East St. Louis High School is one of 27 schools in the state that earned the College Board Advanced Placement Computer Science Female Diversity Award, which acknowledges schools that have been able to grow the number of girls taking high-level computer classes.
Advanced Placement courses prepare students for a test at the end of the school year that, if passed, can help them earn college credit.
Cummins, who has been in District 189 for nine years and currently heads the math department, first started teaching AP Computer Science about five years ago. His first class had five students, with only one being a girl. This year has has 15 this year, 11 of which are girls.
“It’s traditionally a male and, honestly, mostly white-male dominated class,” Cummins said. “We’re one of the few that’s the opposite, which is really cool. … It’s really cool to see these girls stepping up and showing out for our honors classes.”
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women made up just 24{6f90f2fe98827f97fd05e0011472e53c8890931f9d0d5714295052b72b9b5161} of people in computing occupations, while 15{6f90f2fe98827f97fd05e0011472e53c8890931f9d0d5714295052b72b9b5161} of those employees are Black or Hispanic.
As a white man, Cummins said computer programming provided the opportunity for him to create a curriculum that caters to the Black girls he’s teaching.
“It’s easier with this class than a normal math class, but I really try to build stuff around their interests,” he said. “Social media, music, fashion: That’s all stuff we can do with writing programs.”
Originally, student Savannah Williams was signed up for a statistics class, but was moved to Cummins’ computer science class. She says that’s for the better.
“It suits my personality more and what I want to learn about,” she said. “This is more creative. I can do what I like instead of following a strict line of rules.”
Williams’ classmate, SirNickolas Gilmore-Hardy, said he waited for two years to take the class, which is offered to juniors and seniors.
As the class has grown — mostly through word of mouth — Cummins said they’re looking at ways to expand their course offerings in the next few years. The current class is an introductory class, covering how the internet works and cybersecurity before introducing the students to coding.
For now, Cummins said the high school is in the early stages of looking at an even more introductory class for freshmen to get them exposed earlier, as well as a more advanced class that’s focused entirely on coding and programming.
“They’re getting exposed, a lot of them, to things they didn’t even know existed,” Cummins said. “They’re learning how to code, they’re learning how to build apps on their phone, they’re learning how the internet works. I think that drives them to want to learn more about it, because they’re using that stuff everyday.”
Illinois lawmakers react to invasion of Ukraine
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
Duckworth, who is a combat veteran and member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. and allies must “hold (Putin) and his cronies fully, painfully and immediately accountable.”
“The human suffering caused—and any blood spilled—as a result of this unjustified and unjustifiable attack on Ukraine’s sovereign territory are solely on Vladimir Putin’s hands. Our nation, our NATO allies and all countries who value human rights, sovereignty and the rule of law must hold him and his cronies fully, painfully and immediately accountable. Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and inexcusable escalation of this violent invasion will succeed in only one thing: uniting the free world against Russia’s autocratic regime in support of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty, its people and its right to self-governance.”
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Dick Durbin wrote on Twitter that this week he visited Lithuania, and talked with U.S. soldiers from Illinois who were training Lithuanian soldiers in a NATO exercise.
“This week, I had lunch w/ soldiers from Kankakee, Montgomery, & Latham, IL. They are in Lithuania training their soldiers in a NATO exercise. Now, they will awaken to the most dangerous land war in Europe since World War II. We need to stand together for them & thousands more like them.
“Let me be clear: Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine’s sovereign land is a dire threat to the established international order and must be resolutely deterred.
Ukraine and our NATO allies facing ongoing Russian belligerence have strong bipartisan, bicameral support in the U.S. Congress. As someone who who has strong ties to the region, my prayers are with the Ukrainian people and all of Eastern Europe.”
Illinois 17th Congressional District Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Illinois
Bustos, a member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, spoke on News Nation, a subscription television network, to say Americans “must put Country over party.”
“We are protecting democracy in this. That is what this is about. We know this is far away from us from a miles perspective, but this is about protecting democracy and not allowing a leader like Vladimir Putin to continue to spread his authoritarian ways.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker
Pritzker tweeted Wednesday night: “Tonight we stand together in prayer for the people of Ukraine and united in our resolve against the tyranny of a Russian autocrat determined to undermine democracy and threaten peace on the European continent.”
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