Founder, Lead Instructor
Alena Synkova: Alena is a Computer Science student at UBC who dreams of going into video game design. Her main areas of interest are AI, computer security, and computer system design. In her free time she enjoys reading fiction and non-fiction alike, playing video games, and swimming. She is also very interested in astrophysics and anything space related. Alena is passionate about making science, in particular computer science, more accessible to general public, especially kids. That is what she hopes to achieve by working with TechUpKids.
Calvin Sanghera: Calvin is currently obtaining a degree in Computer Science at the University of Toronto. He is going into his third year in his studies for Computer Science, but previously he was studying Biochemistry for a few years at the University of British Columbia. His favourite languages to program in are C and Java. Calvin sees the value of having kids being exposed to programming earlier as it helps them gain an idea of a field that is often not taught in school, but is expanding rapidly. He believes that if he had done so, he would have figured out his passion sooner.
Joshua Lorincz: Josh is entering grade 10 at West Point Point Grey Academy. He is looking forward to next year in which he will be taking both Programming 12 and AP Computer Science. Josh is a passionate programmer and wants to continue with it later in life. He he has been taking TechUpKids courses since the age of 11 and has learned five different programming languages. He has assisted with programming camps and workshops over the past few years. He says his favourite thing about programming is that you can make things with a computer that can help people and affect their live in a positive way. His favourite programming projects are his three apps on the appstore 200 degrees, Swirll, and his school's schedule app. In addition to coding, Josh enjoys playing soccer and hiking on grouse mountain. Josh is very excited to be a TA at TechUpKids this summer.
Instructors/TAs for Summer camps
Instructors/TAs
If you'd like to volunteer at our camps and workshops or have a classroom space for a workshop, please email techupkids@gmail.com
Rita L Agarwal: Rita has a major in Computer Science from UBC, Canada and a diploma in Industrial Design from NID, India. Before starting TechUpKids in early 2013, Rita was working with Optimus Information Inc as a Tech lead. She loves to teach children, and learn from them. Looking at the direction our world is headed and how computers are so ubiquitous , she believes that coding literacy is very important and every child should get an opportunity to learn coding in their elementary school years. They should have an understanding and appreciation of the technology they consume, and potentially play an active role in it as adults.
Ross Weih-Wadman: Ross is entering grade 9 at Lord Byng Secondary School. He has been programming since he was 10 and since then has learned four programming languages. He has been volunteering at TechUpKids since he was 11, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ross is looking forward to being a TA at TechUpKids in summer 2017. He also enjoys playing soccer. Ross wants to help teach coding because he believes that it is an increasingly important field and everybody should learn how to do it.
Henry Kasa: Henry is entering grade 12 at West Point Grey Academy. He has been taking Computer Science for two years including AP Computer Science. Programming has been a passion for him ever since he got his first laptop in grade 7 and he hopes to share that passion through being a TA at Tech Up Kids this summer. He believes that programming is an essential skill for any student and that everyone can learn to enjoy it. In addition to coding he also likes playing soccer and doing track.
Matteo Fiorante: Matteo is entering grade 8 at Saint George's School. He has been attending camps and workshops at TechUpKids for two years and is very excited to be a TA this summer. He says he likes programming because although it takes hard work and a lot of resilience, the end result is always rewarding. In addition to coding Matteo likes playing field hockey.
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Summer Camps
We run age group based, week long summer camps in July to teach the basic constructs of programming using Scratch, App Inventor, HTML, Java and Python.
Workshops
During the school year we offer day long workshops on Pro-D days.
The day includes exploring tools, brainstorming ideas, storyboarding followed by coding and outdoor play time. We also run weekly afterschool classes.
Our Quality
We maintain our quality of instruction by continuously improving the curriculum and presenting the content in an age appropriate manner. Our maximum instructor to student ratio for camps is 1:5.