About us
Our Team
Directors
Duncan Johnson
Executive Director
Duncan Johnson (he/him) is a second-year student studying Computer Science at Tufts University. As the Executive Director of BX Coding, Duncan manages day-to-day operations, partnerships, and business development. Duncan loves teaching at BX Coding’s camps each summer and he is devoted to improving K-12 education worldwide. At Tufts University, he has led research projects at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach and the IDEAs lab. In his free time, Duncan loves running, drinking smoothies, and playing board games.
Elliot Roe
Director of Technology
Elliot Roe (he/him) is a third-year student studying Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the Director of Technology at BX Coding in which he has led the development of open-source educational technology tools for computer science education. He is also an undergraduate research assistant at the Play and Learn Lab where works designing educational games and studying the effects of programming modality on novice programmers.
Ava Wandersleben
Director of Instruction
Ava Wandersleben (she/her) is a first-year Computer Science student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Through her position as the Director of Instruction at BX Coding, she aims to create instructional material for students from underserved populations. At her school, she is also a student researcher on a team to develop a robot to enable deaf and hard-of-hearing people to experience music visually and tactically. Her efforts have earned her recognition from Lockheed Martin, TE Connectivity, Western Digital, and ServiceNow. When not studying, she enjoys competing on the RoboRacing autonomous kart racing team at her school.
Summer Camp Instructors
Jahnavi Acharya
Jahnavi Acharya (she/her) a second-year student studying Computer Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University. She loves to code and mentor others so she is excited to work for BX Coding this summer! In her free time, she love being outside, running, and spending time with her family and friends!
Emily Cordell
Emily Cordell (she/her) is going into her third year at the Ohio State University. She’s studying computer science and engineering with a minor in mathematics. At Ohio State, Emily works as a teaching assistant for Software 1. She’s so excited to be a Counselor this summer and inspire a passion for STEM in young campers! Outside of the classroom, she spends most of her time with her engineering sorority, Phi Sigma Rho. She also enjoys going on walks with friends, cooking, and hanging out with her cats.
McKenzie Lam
McKenzie Lam (they/them, she/her) is a rising third-year student studying Game Design and Development at the Rochester Institute of Technology. At BX Coding, McKenzie hopes to share their passion for interactive play in education with all of their students. In her free time, she loves experiencing new things (music, movies, food, places, anything at all!) and coming up with all sorts of game ideas.
Hannah Franklin
Hannah Franklin (she/her) is a third-year student at Otterbein University studying Early Childhood Education. As a Camp Instructor at BX Coding, Hannah strives to create an inclusive classroom environment where each student receives encouragement to be collaborative, enthusiastic, and have fun! Through various teaching opportunities, she has learned that every student is beyond capable of their own dreams. During Hannah's free time, she loves to do puzzles, bake, and read.
Software Developers
Leighton Miguel
Leighton grew up in Mililani, Hawaii, where his love for technology and video games first began. Fascinated by computers from a young age, he pursued this passion academically, majoring in Computer Science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Now entering his junior year, Leighton is deeply passionate about software engineering and full-stack web development. His ultimate goal is to live in a lakeside house in the mountains while working full-time as a remote software engineer.
Benjamin Montgomery
Benjamin Montgomery (he/him) is going into his senior year of high school. In addition to programming, he runs varsity Track and Cross Country, and he plays the piano and the saxophone. Benjamin also enjoy watching sports, including watching Cubs games and Michigan State games with his family. He is currently working on the Prompt-Ed project at BX Coding and he has previously worked on the Patch project.
Curriculum Developers
Rachel Woo
Rachel Woo (she/her) is a second-year student studying Human Factors Engineering at Tufts University. Rachel's contributions to BX Coding are centered around curriculum designing. Rachel's passions lie in assitive technology development, earning her recognition from companies such as Autodesk. From researching social identity and stigma, to stereotypes in film, to being a Tufts University Laidlaw Scholar, Rachel is always finding way to involve herself in research. In her free time Rachel likes weightlifting, playing guitar, and reading.
Paul Galvan
Paul Galvan (he/him) is a second-year student studying Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University. Paul develops curriculum for one of BX Coding’s summer camps, Arduino's and Circuits! At his school, Paul is an LSAMP scholar that allowed him to do research with any professor of his choice. He chose JumboForge under Professor Briana Bouchard where they are designing an affordable robotic arm where instructions will be released for free (coming soon). In his free time, Paul loves to play soccer and talk to people.
Our History
BX Coding started with two weeks of camp in Elliot's dining room. Duncan and Elliot taught a dozen students in Scratch and Unity, placing a TV on an upside-down laundry basket to display their custom curriculum!
Improving on their curriculum from the summer, Duncan and Elliot taught 15 Bexley Middle School students during a 12 week after-school program in a real classroom!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BX Coding pivoted to online camps, restructuring their curriculum to successfully teach dozens of students across the US and Canada.
In partnership with the Bexley Recreation and Parks department, Duncan and Elliot ran two weeks of camp at Bexley Middle School, teaching 40 students in Scratch and Unity!
During the 2021-2022 school year, BX Coding ran weekly coding classes for elementary and middle school students in Whitehall YMCA after-school programs.
BX Coding taught sixty students across three weeks of camp. Along with iterating on their Scratch and Unity curriculum, Duncan and Elliot added new camps to teach Python, engineering, circuits, and CAD.
Expanding their summer camp offerings to Columbus Academy Summer Experience, BX Coding taught 120 students across 9 camps. Director of Instruction Ava Wanderseleben joined BX Coding in early 2023.