One part of Upper School computer science teacher Shaheen Matuni’s presentation that may have caught your attention was his mention of “stuck ducks” that help his students figure out tough problems. This is a psychological practice that allows students to speak their problems aloud to a duck, instead of going over them in their head and remaining confused.
“You need to get out of your own head sometimes to see that answer to a problem,” Matuni said.
Matuni worked at a public school for 10 years as a computer science and math teacher. He then came to FWCD, where he has been teaching Computer Science Principles, Art & Code, AP Computer Science, and Data Structures for the past seven years.
Matuni’s interest in computer science stemmed from his love of problem solving and neurology.
“It’s not so much the computer as the expression of thought. […] I found it to be so comforting to be able to have an idea and follow some rules and make it happen,” Matuni said.
Matuni’s favorite part of FWCD is the service days and opportunities. He has been a part of many service opportunities, like serving at food banks and picking up trash along the Trinity River.
“The service days here are unique, and I’ve enjoyed serving with students and colleagues at various locations,” Matuni said.
Matuni is also a Freshman advisor. This allows many students an opportunity to build a relationship with him that they wouldn’t otherwise have if they don’t take computer science.
“One of my favorite [memories] from advisory might be when we [decorated] all of the cookies,” Tucker Grubbs ’24, a former advisee of Matuni, said. “I can say one of my favorite projects from his class was when he gave us free reign… we had to create our own app.”
Now, sadly, Matuni is leaving the FWCD community to build educational tools for a web service, which will allow him to use his educational expertise in a corporate setting.
This will be a significant change from working at FWCD, but Matuni is ready for a challenge.
“[Uncertainty is] just part of life. You go in, grab your toolkit, and you just deal with whatever comes,” Matuni said.
