Computer science teacher Jacob Jun from Gonzales, California, is one of ten educators who has garnered an Amazon Future Engineer Teacher of the Year award.

Ten exceptional educators from around the country have garnered a Future Engineer Teacher of the Year Award from Amazon. One of these is Jacob Jun, a computer science teacher at Gonzales High School in Gonzales, Monterey County, California. The honored educator was recognized for going above and beyond for his students to build skills in computer science, and for promoting diversity and inclusion in his classes. 

One of Jacob’s goals as a teacher has been a campaign to recruit girls to enroll in his course. “In this classroom, you…are all worthy,” asserts Jacob. “You can all do this.” As a result, of his effort, girls now account for about half the student enrollment in his classes. “The girls in the classroom have really changed the landscape, and we have a broader perspective, students from various backgrounds speaking out,” declares Jacob. “It challenges the way I normally operate.”

Each of the ten award-winning teachers received a prize package valued at over $50,000 to be used to benefit his or her school and students.

Jacob earned an Associate of Arts degree in General Studies from Hartnell Community College in Salinas, California, in 2002. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 2006. He launched his career as an educator as a teacher of English in Seoul, South Korea. He spent one year there. The next year, Jacob worked as an Assistant Supervising Editor at Korea Poly High. There he edited curriculum used in teaching English to South Korean foreign language students. While in this role, he created an outline for a series of elementary school grammar textbooks and he authored a book in the series. He also performed final edits and oversaw the handling of publishing materials, and he worked with the department head to develop computer safeguards and to create a budget for media storage. He also spent two years as an ROP Instructor and EdTech Coach at Mission Trails ROP, where he built a program that involved hands-on training in a professional studio for students looking to gain experience in the field of cinema arts and TV media. He has taught at Gonzales High School for the past three years.

To read more about Jacob Jun, see this article published in the Californian.