Programming Possibilities: Keith unlocks the creative side

Kedron Elementary computer science teacher Erin Keith shows students that anything is possible.

Keith realized very early on that her future was in the classroom. Her 3rd grade teacher was a huge influence in finding her calling, inspiring her and helping her see her strengths and find confidence.

“From that moment, I was that very stereotypical kid, lining my stuffed animals up in my bedroom and making my little brother sit in the middle and listen to my lesson of the day,” she remembered. 

She had a series of important English teachers who helped her refine her dream.

“They made me fall in love with literature and how beautiful of an art it is and how life changing it can be. More importantly, they showed me how enjoyable education is.”

After spending most of her career teaching English and coaching volleyball, 2020 brought a big change. When the pandemic hit, she volunteered to be the virtual teacher for the department at McIntosh High. She was able to build courses and create gifted content when all students were learning virtually.

“As difficult as that time period was, I really enjoyed the work.”

She was amazed by the possibilities and loved learning about new education technology and how to implement it to engage students. After that school year, she started looking for more opportunities to incorporate technology into her teaching, and she decided to make the leap into her role at Kedron.

“I never saw myself moving towards a computer science track,” she said. “I fell in love with it when I didn’t have plans to.”

Keith has helped students to learn block coding, program robots, develop mobile apps, and learn 3D modeling.

“These things that seemed so far fetched for adults are now possible for really young kids, and that just makes my job unbelievable.”

One of her proudest moments was seeing two of her students develop a control panel cover to prevent unintended button pressing for special education classrooms. They took it through all the steps from brainstorming to testing and producing it, with dozens of teachers around the county now using their invention.

“That’s the dream, for kids to be motivated to want to solve a problem, to believe that they can solve the problem, and then to not give up throughout the process of designing, creating, and bringing it to life,” she said.  “My favorite part is that no one will be able to say ‘No, you can’t do that’ because they already have.”

It’s all about inspiring kids to believe in themselves and to have the confidence to face whatever trials are thrown their way.

“I am grateful that I get to do that every day. Every day I get to say ‘Hey guys, I’m going to show you something new. I am going to teach you a skill that you didn’t know you were capable of. and when you leave this room you will be more confident in yourself than you were when you walked in because now you can do even more.’”

“The Honor Role,” an official podcast for Fayette County Public Schools, features employees, rotating through key stakeholders, including teachers, staff, nurses, custodians, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers. Join us as we dive in and learn about their journeys, their inspirations, and their whys.

Episodes are available on all major podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and promoted on the social media channels of Fayette County Public Schools.

Episodes will also be available here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2200811.