About Us

The Michigan CSTA Chapter was created to serve as a local computer science community. The goals of this chapter are to help Michigan computer science teachers connect with each other, provide professional development to help improve your craft and connect your local voice to the national computer science education community.

Meet your CSTA Michigan Leadership Team

resident: Josh Pudaloff
Josh Pudaloff earned his B.S. in Computer Science and M.A. in teaching from Wayne State University. He currently

serves as Math Department Co-Chair at Athens High School in Troy, MI where he teaches computer science and mathematics. As the current president of the Michigan Chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association (MICSTA), Josh organizes and presents at chapter meetings to the computer science community and works to support other teachers. He actively promotes the interest of computer science by sponsoring students in regional organization activities including those by Women in Computer Science (WICS) and the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL). He

presents at regional conferences including full-day sessions to promote the College Board AP CSA test and AP CSP class. He is currently a facilitator for teacher professional development through code.org, training teachers new to teaching Computer Science Principles. Josh is interested in promoting inclusion and equity of representation of females and underrepresented minorities in Computer Science. He received the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) Michigan Affiliate Educator Award in 2017. He has taught many courses in Computer Science at the high school level and for organizations such as Google and Johns Hopkins University. Josh also serves as a reader for the College Board scoring the AP Computer Science A test.

Vice President: Dr. Heidi Kattula

Dr. Kattula is the Superintendent of East Grand Rapids Public Schools. She holds a doctorate degree in Educational
Leadership and Policy Studies with a cognate in Educational Evaluation and Research from Wayne State University; a
master’s degree in Educational Administration from Northern Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Michigan. Prior to her current position as the Superintendent,
Dr. Kattula worked as Executive Director of District and School Services for Oakland Intermediate School District

(Oakland Schools), an educational service agency that provides instructional support and services for 28 school districts

in Oakland County, servicing over 180,000 students. Dr. Kattula led the academic achievement and social-emotional learning for the PreK-12 students in Oakland County. She has also served as a district Director of Curriculum and Instruction; high school, middle school and elementary principal; and mathematics and computer science teacher in Ohio and Michigan. As a first-generation college graduate, Dr. Kattula's career has been devoted to improving public education and educational opportunities for all students. Throughout her roles in public education, she has led increased student achievement and expanded opportunities for all students in the communities she has served. Dr. Kattula has served on numerous statewide boards and committees focusing on PreK-12 public education, educational innovation, and reform, computer science and STEM education. Her pedagogical and disciplinary expertise includes International Baccalaureate programs (PYP, MYP, DP), educational leadership and policy studies, and educational administration, data and assessment, STEM education, FIRST robotics curriculum integration, mathematics, and computer science instruction, and career technical education – agricultural science. Dr. Kattula has presented at numerous national, state and local conferences on a wide variety of topics including International Baccalaureate programs, Harvard’s PZ Cultures of Thinking, New Pedagogies for Deeper Learning, STEM and computer science education. She has successfully written and received numerous national and state grants to promote and support public education in the areas of PreK-12 educational reform and innovation.

Sec

retary: Vinos Kassab

Vinos is a Digital Learning Consultant at the Oakland Intermediate School District, an educational service agency that provides educational support for the 28 local districts and the 26 public charter academies in Oakland County, MI. In her role, Vinos supports districts with the latest educational technology tools, computer science, and robotics. She is also a Computer Science Fundamentals facilitator in partnership with code.org, providing professional learning to K-5 teachers new to computer science. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education at Oakland University and her M.A. in Leadership and Administration at the University

of Michigan. Prior to her position at Oakland Schools, Vinos served as an elementary and middle school teacher in a suburban school district. Her tenure with the school district consisted of teaching all subjects at the elementary level, and math, language arts, and computer science at the middle school level. In addition, Vinos served as the district’s math content area leader, coding club coach, and Education Technology lead. She has presented at national, state, and local conferences on various topics including International Baccalaureate programs, robotics integration, and computer science. Vinos was involved in the statewide development and adoption of the computer science standards for Michigan.

University Liaison: Jason Canfield

Jason currently teaches in Farmington Public Schools and also serves as an adjunct professor at both Henry Ford College and

Macomb Community College in the CIS department. He has taught CTE, IT, and business for 16 years.

Jason earned his Bachelor of Business Education, Master of Science in Technology, and a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University. He specializes in the areas of technology and culture and information systems (programming and implementation). He holds both a professional education certificate and CTE Occupational Certificate. He is also a Microsoft and Google Certified Educator and holds credentials through MOS in office, Excel

expert, and MTA certifications in security, operating systems, block-based programming, and HTML CSS programming. Recently he has earned CompTIA A+ certification making him well versed in hardware and software. He is also a BPA advisor at North Farmington High School.

Jason is grateful to serve on the MiCSTA board working collaboratively with fellow educators and like-minded industry professionals to further grow and expand the progression of computer science in the classroom and workforce.

Jason received the Aspirations in Computing Educator Honorable Mention Award for 2021 through the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWIT). He was awarded the McWIT Educator Award in the winter of 2022 and is a Cisco Network Academy Instructor.

"I teach future engineers" - Amazon Future Engineers Program

About CSTA

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) understands that teaching computer science is hard. That’s why our dedicated team and teacher-led Board of Directors has focused on creating a strong environment to support K–12 educators.

We’re proud to have created a community that:

Is led by K-12 computer science teachers, and puts teacher needs at the forefront
Shares the latest best practices in K-12 computer science education
Creates local communities across the US + Canada that make sure every computer science teacher has a home.
Builds the largest teacher-led computer science professional development event in the world each year!
Provides access to exclusive discounts on courses and tools that will take your teaching practice to the next level.

You might be the only computer science teacher in your school, district or town, but as a part of CSTA, we’re in this together.