Maria Camarena (She/Her)

Maria Camarena is a computer science teacher at Maywood Center for Enriched Studies. Her mission is to advocate for computer science opportunities in her community. In five years, she has established a computer science pathway offering CS to all 7th graders and multiple high school CS classes, including APCSP, APCSA and Data Science. Maria is a strong advocate for girls in STEM. She significantly increased the enrollment of girls in CS courses through the founding of the MaCES Girls Who Code Club and the Computer Science Honor Society, the only in her local district. Maria also believes in connecting students with professionals of Hispanic/Latinx descent through her partnership with Nuevo Foundation because she understands that “you can’t be what you can’t see”. Her accolades include the 2020 CSTA/Infosys Teaching Excellence award and the 2022 NCWIT National Educator award. You can see a glimpse of her students’ awesomeness and the pursuit to bring computer science to her community on Twitter @csiseverywhere and Instagram @maces.cs, @maces.gwc and @maces_cshs.

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