Kevin Kiyoi Named PUSD Teacher Of The Year

PLEASANTON, CA — Amador Valley High School Computer Science teacher Kevin Kiyoi has been named the Pleasanton Unified School District’s 2023-24 Teacher of the Year, the district announced Monday. The district is submitting Kiyoi’s name for consideration as an Alameda County Teacher of the Year.

Kiyoi has taught math and computer science at Amador Valley for 20 years. He currently serves as the lead teacher for the school’s Instructional and Communication Technology career technical education pathway, where he has served as a mentor to new teachers and led computer science education collaboration throughout the district.

Kiyoi has also served as advisor of the Amador Valley chapter of the Girls Who Code, an organization helping to close the gender gap in computer science. Under Kiyoi’s leadership, the Amador Valley Chapter has grown greatly, hosted its 4th annual summit attended by 150 students, and is now hosting Family Coding nights and other events with the district’s African-American Network, Latino Family Network, and more.

"Congratulations to Mr. Kiyoi on this well-deserved honor for his incredible work with students both inside and outside the classroom,” PUSD Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Haglund said in a statement. “His dedication to students is evident in the nationally recognized Girls Who Code chapter he's helped lead, his work to reach under-represented groups in computer science and the individual achievements of the students that benefit from his pedagogy."

“Walk into Kevin's classroom and you are immediately struck by students' engagement. Kevin has designed a space and a practice where students feel safe and comfortable engaging with the material and their peers in a way any teacher would be thrilled to see,” said Amador Valley High School teacher Tony Dennis. “This is a result of his constant examination of his practice and his search for ways to help and encourage all his students to do their best work and get the most out of their experience with him in class.”