Mr. David Roggenbuck

Director of Technology

Computer Science Teacher

Robotics Coach

eSports Coach

One Weird Nerd

My name is David Roggenbuck, and if you're checking out my website, I may likely be your instructor! This is my nineth year teaching, and eighth year at Harbor Beach. To those that don't know me, I'm a bit of a nerd.

I teach multiple classes concurrently. Check out the tabs above for more information on what I teach! Also, since I'm the Director of Technology, I handle all the IT needs of our school. So, whether you are having trouble with Skyward or need to navigate how to use Google, I'll be the one to help.

I am the Lead Coach for our school's VEX Robotics teams and our eSports teams. Both program have been very successful, with students qualifying for States or Playoffs in both programs.

On a more personal note, I live in Harbor Beach with my wife Ashley, two children (Holden and Danilyn), and our cat, Pepper. I enjoy playing RPG video games. Additionally, I enjoy writing music and fiction.

I'm looking forward to interacting with you. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Certifications

Teaching Endorsements: EX , NP, NR

CompTIA Certifications: A+

Education

Student-Oriented

Create Opportunities

Passion Driven

Perseverance

Technology

Teaching Philosophy

If you had to ask any teacher what the most important thing is as an educator, the resounding answer would be our students. Nuturing their growth, seeing their struggles and successes, opening doors that may have otherwise been closed to them; this is what we do as educators.

Every child deserves an opportunity to grow and achieve. We live in an ever-changing world immersed in technology. Part of my role as an educator is to provide students a safe environment to succeed in this increasingly digital world.

In my classroom, I seek to provide opportunities that would otherwise never be present in our community. Students in my classroom will learn industry standard applications, earn AP credit, or may even seek an industry certification.

Any barrier to a student's achievement should be eliminated for lowered to a level that permits them to succeed. I am constantly seeking ways to improve the delivery of my instruction, engagement with the curriculum, and pathways to student success.

Building a Legacy of Computer Science and Technology

Read how a program was built from almost nothing to one of the biggest CS/IT programs in the Thumb of Michigan.

The Importance Technology

When I was hired at Harbor Beach Community Schools in 2013, I was excited to return to my old alma mater. I was familar with the community, the culture, and had family ties to the area. I was to replace the retiring Technology Coordinator and also serve as the school's new Computer Science Teacher. However, there was no Computer Science curriculum to be had. So, I undertook the responsbility to build it myself.

At first, I taught one course: Computer Applications. While this worked as a general CS course, the need for other classes soon became apparent when interest in courses such as Robotics or Web Design were put forth by students. This made me realize the traditional teaching model would not work if I were to teach additional courses concurrently.

Concurrently, I sat on the High School Graduation Requirement Committee and was able to successfully push to get our school to require a full year of a Technology credit. This was a huge win for the CS program, as it meant that students would need to take a technology course to graduate. Prior to this, it was only an elective. If you want to build a strong program, you need the numbers to do so!

With the realization that the traditional model would not work for the future and that students were seeking more options, my teaching style had to change. The concept of blended learning appeared to offer a solution. I could digitize all my curriculum and would be able to offer classes side-by-side for my students.

I quickly was able to offer courses such as Programming or Game Design, but also ventured to include courses such as Animation and AP Computer Science Principles to appeal to different learning styles and interests. It took some time for students to enroll in these new offerings, as many still viewed Computer Applications as a basic or introductory CS offering, instead of a general course that gives students a sprinkling of everything. This shift permitted us to offer students either AP credit or experience with an industry standard tool such as After Effects, Photoshop, or Unity.

Most recently, we added InfoSec courses to our roster, allowing students to earn CompTIA certifications while still in high school. This came about because we had students who were seeking a career path into Information Technology, but no program was present at the Tech Center. Therefore, I resolved to add this in order to give one more reason why our school was the premiere location for learning Computer Science or IT content.

Flash forward to the present and we now offer over twenty-five courses in Computer Science and Technology at our high school, with rigorous Technology curriculum being developed and taught in grades K-8. With the impact of COVID-19, I was able to emerge as a leader in digitizing curriculum to our staff and not only gave input to the model, but aided teachers in transforming their own curriculum.

That curriculum has now begun to work its way to other schools to teachers who may not have the time or resources to develop their own Technology curriculum. With the recent revision of the State Technology Standards, this comes at a perfect time for many of our neighboring schools. Many of these smaller rural schools act as feeders into our high school program, making the preparation of these students essential to close any learning gaps.

This is not the end of the tale, and I'm certain that it will continue to evolve and change over the years as different challenges and evolutions to technology occur. I have also lead many innovations and changes over the years at our district, from the non-teaching side as well, that is not the focus of this story.