Jeff Yee - Setting a Standard of Excellence in Computer Science at Mission Vista

Jeff Yee has taught Computer Science at Mission Vista High School since the school opened in 2009. He made the switch to teaching after working as a software 

engineer for 17 years and has spent the past 16 years building the school’s Computer Science program. 

“I went from teaching one introductory class to now teaching five different Computer Science courses,” he says, describing how the course has evolved. “To me, it is just unbelievable from what I ever thought would happen.”

Yee’s own high school in Hawaii boasts alumni including Barack Obama. “He was actually a senior when I was a freshman,” recalls Yee. Yee went on to get a degree in Computer Science from Brown University, an Ivy League school.

Yee’s educational experiences taught him early on about the importance of connections and networking. Alongside building MV’s Computer Science program, he has always been committed to regularly connecting current students with former alumni, explaining: “I really wanted to create this community where students get to know each other and help each other out.”

Five Levels of Study
Yee’s five courses begin with Computer Science 1, where students learn about the Java programming language; the second level is an AP Computer Science college-credit course. Students can then advance to the Game Programming course, where they get to create sophisticated 2D and 3D games and the Advanced Web Programming course. 

The final course, which Yee is teaching for the first time this year, is a Machine Learning course that teaches students different technologies and algorithms.

“The main reason I created these courses is that when I began teaching computer science years ago, I thought maybe two or three students might be interested. But for the past eight or nine years, every single senior class has had between 20 and 25 students majoring in Computer Science or Computer Engineering.”

Yee regularly takes his classes to the Fleet Science Center where they get to showcase their software expertise through various virtual reality projects. One show led to the Salk Institute inviting Yee and his students to create a unique program using their molecules in virtual reality for a public event.  

“They gave us some of the viruses they were working on and we put them into a virtual reality program,” says Yee. “One of the scientists actually came to me and said, ‘this is the very first time we have actually seen what we were working on in virtual reality’.”

Preparing Students to Succeed
Yee says he instills in all of his students that no matter where their path continues from Mission Vista, they are going to be successful. “Not because of which college they go to but because of the skills and knowledge they're getting here. That is going to be what propels them to be successful in whatever path. 

“I've had students go to Cornell and then go on to graduate school at Harvard to study quantum computing. And others who go to Mira Costa, then transfer to UCLA and become highly successful in a computer science career.”

Yee says it is all the experience of problem-solving, critical thinking, and the skills they develop at Mission Vista that sets students up for success post-graduation. These opportunities are primarily possible due to Mission Vista’s 4X4 schedule, which allows students to take more courses than a traditional schedule would allow.

“I just feel that no other high school in the country is getting such a full spectrum of computer science like we have at Mission Vista. My approach is that I'm able to develop the students - starting as ninth graders - being clueless, like I was! I'm very honest with my students and tell them I was a horrible student as far as being immature. But by telling them all the mistakes I made, I help them not make those mistakes. 

“My goal is to get to the point where they look at me and say, ‘you know, Mr. Yee, you don't have anything to offer me anymore. I can learn and solve these things.’ When students graduate, they should feel like they're ready to move on and that they’ve learned enough to adapt to whatever situation comes their way.”

This dedication to helping shape and encourage his students’ future careers has, not surprisingly, inspired over 200 alumni to stay in touch. Yee delights in connecting them with his current students at his reunion events. 

His first one in 2019 was called ‘Yeevival’, which saw 60 former students gather with 30 current students. The numbers only grew for his 2022 ‘Yeequal’ event. “They networked and communicated together,” smiles Yee. “The alumni shared their experiences and got to give back to the program. 

“Some tell me that in college, they don't have anything like the projects they've done here. That our projects are even more sophisticated than those they do in their undergraduate courses,” he laughs. “This is all kind of my dream - where former students are really are proud of Mission Vista.”