A former teacher shares his appreciation for educators

Quentin Contreras, a Technical Support Specialist at Autodesk, is also a former teacher

As the school year wound down, In4All celebrated the selfless service of teachers who gave us a model for advancing justice and equity for our students. Working alongside the teachers were hundreds of In4All volunteers representing their companies and delivering programs.

For Autodesk and five other companies, the pandemic year was their first year in the classroom. What commitment! At the end of the school year, I caught up with Quentin Contreras, a technical support specialist at Autodesk, about his experience delivering In4All programming to the 5th grade students at Gilbert Heights Elementary School and his appreciation for the work teachers did during the pandemic.

Quentin, I heard you have a history in the classroom. What perspective do you have on what teachers faced this year?

Yes. Prior to coming to Autodesk, I taught five years of high school in Texas so doing things with kids has always been something I wanted to be involved in here. Being a teacher was probably one of the most impactful and satisfying jobs I’ve ever had.

It also made me very appreciative of the job teachers have done during the pandemic. My friends who are teachers had to reimagine lesson plans, learn new software applications, and be incredibly adaptable when everything was changing on a daily basis early in the pandemic. I can’t imagine the challenges they faced, but that’s who teachers are. They know how to adapt because they do it all the time.

What drew you to volunteer for In4All?

I started life out with a single mom. We didn’t have much when I was younger, so for me it was about finding a career I could place myself in where I had potential. I had aspirations of being an architect or an engineer, so I started in that direction by getting an associates degree in computer aided drafting. I used a lot of Autodesk tools and thought it would be cool to work for the company and I eventually did!

It's an experience I like to share with kids. As a former teacher, I know they have all the potential but also have an economic and social mindset that tells them they can’t compete with the overachievers. I share my experience of doing things where the results were not always immediate, but by taking little steps, you can get there and achieve your lofty goals.

As you prepared for the school year at the height of the pandemic, what were your thoughts?

I was a little hesitant going in. Having been a teacher, I was just thinking about working in a virtual environment and how that is so different than how I was trained. We weren’t sure how it was going to work, especially keeping 5th graders on task in a virtual environment.

The great part is our teacher had already been doing the virtual classes, so he was able to help get us ready. We met prior to the first session to work out the kinks and make sure the technology worked for us. The teacher also made sure the kids were ready and knew what they would be doing. It was really helpful and took care of any hesitancy we had going into the classroom.

Once you got into the program, how did the students react?

I was surprised. The kids were really excited about the activity and it flowed a lot better than I thought it would. As we were going through the acid test, the students started coming up with new ideas about using different liquids and talking about what would happen. You could really see the creativity coming through.

That is the thing I like about these types of classes. It’s a tangible thing. Some kids learn better when it’s not just reading theories in a book. The tangibility part of putting your hands on something and going through the lesson enhances the learning process and makes it something they can relate to. Plus, they are getting exposure to the scientific process that gives them building blocks for future science classes.

Now that you have been through a year of In4All programming, what would you share with other companies who are considering more community involvement?

Students want exposure to the community and to the businesses in that area. It gives them exposure to new areas of interest and ideas for what they might want to do in the future.

For example, at Autodesk, we make software for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, and media and entertainment industries. If students have taken a ride in a high-performance car, looked up at a skyscraper, watched a special effects movie or played video games, they’ve likely experienced what our customers are doing with our software. If you share what you know about your experiences, students will find a place to connect to it.