Middle school teacher Michelle Pierce of Charlotte, North Carolina, helps her students gain skills needed for success in the 21st century. Photo credit: Computer Science Teachers Association
Our nation’s students are fortunate to have excellent educator who help them develop skills needed to be successful in the 21st century. One of these is Michelle Pierce, a middle school computer science teacher from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Michelle teaches at Mallard Creek STEM (Science, Engineering, Engineering, ad Mathematics) Academy in Charlotte, where she was recently selected as their 2022-2023 Middle School Teacher of the Year. She also teaches Digital Citizenship lessons to every K-8 student in the school. And she leads an after school Girls Who Code Club to help close the gender gap in technology. As if all that were not enough, she also serves as a Team Lead and Teacher Mentor.
Michelle is passionate about using her voice to advocate for diversity and equity in Computer Science. In the classroom, she works to present Computer Science in relatable, yet fun ways while at the same time using course materials that help diversity students see themselves represented. In April, 2023, Michelle hosted a school-wide Hackathon event where over 100 families participated in hands-on activities to learn more about different areas of the computer science field.
In 2021, Michelle was one of ten educators recognized as an Amazon Future Engineer Teacher of the Year for her work in helping students in underserved and under-represented communities explore possibilities of studying computer science. As a result of that recognition, she was selected to represent the Amazon Future Engineer program at the 2022 CSTA National Conference.
Michelle earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned a second Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Teaching from North Carolina Central University in 2005. In addition, shas completed the requirements to be certified as a Common Sense Educator and Google Certified Educator, Level 2. She is an active member of the North Carolina CSTA chapter, CSTA Black Affinity Group, and ISTE. She is also a founding member of the Charlotte Women in Tech for Good.
