Darlene Bowman
Susan Imberman
Sandy Nevins
Meet Darlene, President, CSTA Staten Island Chapter
I teach STEM to high school students with Autism at the Great Kills High School, and I’m an English professor at The College of Staten Island. I’ve worked with students with (and without) disabilities for almost 20 years. My current high school was the first D75 HS accepted into the Software Engineering Program in 2015, and I’ve been having the time of my life introducing CS to students and teachers across NYC.
I grew up a science nerd, loving dinosaurs, geology, telescopes and looking at the moon – I still do. My mom really encouraged my love of science and math from my earliest memories. I got into teaching thanks to my oldest son who was a super intelligent youngster but just not in the way that his teachers could appreciate!! I would modify their lessons and teach him myself at night. For YEARS!! Thanks to him, I am giving students the understanding and supports that MY son received from many of his teachers.
Right now I’m reading “Calling All Minds” by Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin is an inventor with Autism and gives fantastic insight into the way different minds work. Her book contains pages of experiments that she did as a child and teen for readers to try. I’m in love with this book right now and can’t wait to share with my students.
My Favorite quote is “Don’t just PLAY on your phone – PROGRAM it!” - by Barack Obama, and is basically my whole reason for bringing computer science/computational thinking to my students.
Fun Fact
I love taking pictures of the Verrazano Bridge. I’ve even dedicated a website to it called VerrazanoViews http://VerrazanoViews.com. Oh – and I’m an under cover Karaoke Queen (in my own mind, that is!!)
Meet Susan, Vice President, CSTA Staten Island Chapter
I have been teaching at the College of Staten Island, CUNY in various roles, adjunct, grad student, professor, since 1987. I am old, sigh!!!
I got hooked on Computer Science when I was looking to transition from Biology to something else. My oldest son, now 40, was three years old and I decided to try a computer science course. The rest was history :)
My favorite book of all time is "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle. I must have read it a thousand times over. It was my first sci-fi book and I have been hooked on the genre ever since.
I do not have a favorite quote but I am open to suggestion.
Fun fact about me: I love to decorate and, understandably, am hooked on HGTV. If I had to pick a second career it would be an interior designer. Attached is a picture of two rooms I have decorated.
Meet Sandy, Treasurer, CSTA Staten Island Chapter
I have been teaching at Saint Joseph Hill Academy High School since September 2018. I have been at the College of Staten Island, CUNY in a myriad of roles, undergraduate student, college laboratory technician, adjunct, substitute lecturer, since 1991. It’s like Hotel California – I can check out anytime I like, but I will never leave.
I got hooked on Computer Science when I was in high school as I helped one of my teachers who was ill teach COBOL. If punch cards and COBOL didn’t deter me – nothing will.
My favorite book is actually a series of books – “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. I was turned onto the series by my late father as he thought the characters and their adventures said a lot about the world and life in general. I read it every year to remind me of the time I had with my dad and to have a good laugh in his memory.
I actually have two favorite quotes….
“Smile like a monkey with a new banana”. I do not know who said this, but it reminds me to stay positive and to keep moving forward.
“Do not raise your daughter to look for a knight. Raise her to use the sword herself”. Again, I don’t know who said this (I’m bad with that kind of stuff), but it reminds me of my duty as a teacher to my female students to make them creative and independent thinkers.
Fun fact about me: I love to bake and knit. To that end – my entire family has blankets, hats and scarfs I have made for them. Right now I am trying to lose the weight I gained during the lockdown for all the goodies that I baked. Here are some goodies I have baked in the past.