South Vermilion teacher earns tech honor

An educator from South Vermilion Community School Corp. has been named the inaugural Nextech Computer Science Teacher of the Year by Techpoint, the nonprofit growth accelerator for Indiana’s technology sector. Maria Sellers, who has been described as a “force of nature,” will be honored during TechPoint’s 24th annual Mira Awards gala, which recognizes the best of tech in Indiana.

Sellers has taught in the district since 2003, initially as a music teacher in elementary schools. In 2012, she became the school corporation’s eLearning specialist and later returned to the classroom to teach computer science.

Techpoint says the new award recognizes teachers whose achievements advance the education of students beyond the use of technology. The nonprofit says Sellers epitomizes both the letter and the spirit of the award’s criteria.

“Maria is a force of nature,” said Nextech President Karen Jung. “Her work with these students – and teachers throughout Indiana – will have ripple effects for generations and help Indiana fill its huge demand for highly skilled tech talent.”

Nextech says when Sellers returned to the classroom to teach computer science, she saw the need for the school corporation to expand its CS offerings to all grade levels.

In addition to her classroom work, Sellers coaches the South Vermillion middle school Vex Robotics Teams, guides a 4-H tech club, and assists with various coding organizations.

“Maria’s enthusiasm for CS cannot be contained to her own classroom or even her own school corporation,” said Jung. “She’s helped train more than 200 Indiana educators, expanding CS throughout the state.”

Nextech says some of Seller’s high school students help with the school’s IT troubleshooting department, and some middle school students are already taking college-level CS courses.