The Black and White

by August Pittman

From turning a new computer science program into a thriving one, to being the only teacher in Warwick certified to teach about AI in the healthcare system, the newest arrival to the math department here at Pilgrim has plenty to share.

Mrs. Hudson is a brand new teacher here at Pilgrim, but she’s been teaching for a while. She worked at Aldrich Jr. High teaching math for 14 years before moving into high school education. At Toll Gate she continued to teach math, and also was a pioneer for the computer science program, growing it all the way from 3 students to over 150 in just a few years.

At Toll Gate, she taught for 7 years and created the Data Science pathway before leaving the classroom. For a year and a half, she served as a Warwick Math and Technology Curriculum Coordinator. Despite enjoying the work, the call of the classroom was too strong, saying, “I knew teaching was where I was meant to be.”

Here at Pilgrim, she’s teaching a wide range of classes: Algebra 1, Algebra 2 (H), Algebra 2, and Intro to Computer Science 1. She shared she’s hoping next year to teach more computer science courses, especially Cybersecurity, while also saying she “enjoys the variety” she has working in both computer science and math.

She is passionate about her career, saying she loves to see students who “say they’re not math students flourish”. Hudson also shared everything she does is to “give students opportunities”, showing her genuine care for those she teaches, and that, “being fair and equitable” is what she strives for and sharing that while students at Pilgrim may not be familiar with her yet they’re “in good hands”.

Just like she did for Toll Gate, Mrs. Hudson is working on making a Computer Science pathway for Pilgrim, alongside Mrs. Mixner and Dr. Guerra. They’re intending for the pathway to focus on computer programming in particular.

With computer science already being a requirement to graduate for incoming freshman, many ninth graders will take the course this year, putting them in a great position to do the potential pathway. In addition, as the other courses would be electives, it should fit nicely into student schedules.

Hudson spent last summer at Brown University alongside other teachers, medical students, and doctors, looking at biases in healthcare. An example of this, she shared, is the pulse oximeter, a device to measure oxygen levels. However, during the COVID-19 outbreak, they realized that it didn’t work effectively on those with darker skin. This had dire consequences, as it would give false negative results and people who thought were perfectly fine would be dying.  In the course, they discussed that each culture has different norms, necessitating that they include more samples while training computers. While learning how to teach computers to overcome biases, they met with doctors to work on fixing the real issues they were encountering. The course has a heavy focus on data, while also looking at it from a human side.

In speaking about computer science coursework, Hudson says “Every single job at this point will require some understanding of computers.” She recommends at least seeing if you enjoy Intro to Computer Science 1, and to take it seriously because “so much creativity is being taken away. And that’s what we need, creative problem solvers.” Furthermore, she said the median salary for computer science jobs right out of undergraduate school is $90,000 without job experience and the salary 5 years in goes to $135,000, while the skill is also in very high demand. 

With an ever growing need for these jobs, “the possibilities are endless”! There are plenty of grants, including URI providing waived tuition for the last few years of college in return for service to the state, guaranteeing work after graduation. From working in healthcare to cybersecurity, a pathway like this would prepare students for careers that are both lucrative and exciting.