MassCUE is pleased to announce LeRoy Wong as our Featured Educator for November, 2021!

LeRoy Wong has done a little bit of everything in the field of education! He began his education career through the Teach for America program where he started as a special education teacher in North Carolina. This is where he also attended school at Highlands High School from K-12 and college at Duke University. After three years of teaching in North Carolina, LeRoy moved to Massachusetts to attend the Harvard Graduate School of Education. After a brief stint working with the Job Corps program at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C.,  LeRoy found his way back to Massachusetts and worked in a couple of departments at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE), including the Office of Digital Literacy where he first was involved with MassCUE in organizing their annual conference.

Upon leaving the Massachusetts Department of Education, LeRoy worked with Boston Public Schools and was part of the original team that helped to implement BPS’s Laptops for Learning or L4L program in which all teachers were deployed and trained to use Apple MacBooks as instructional devices in their classrooms. LeRoy managed a variety of grant projects including using Apple iPads in special education and using technology with English Language Learners. In his last two years at BPS, he was the computer teacher at the Mattahunt Elementary School.

In 2016, LeRoy transitioned to a different “BPS” when he was hired by Burlington Public Schools to teach the Burlington High School Help Desk Program. Burlington was one of the first districts in the country to implement a 1:1 program in 2011, and the BHS Help Desk was one of the first student-run tech support programs created to provide front-line tech support to students and faculty. Through the leadership and vision of Burlington Public Schools administrators such as Dennis Villano, Directory of Technology Integration, the teachers and students have created an internationally recognized model for innovative tech support and project-based learning. The International Society for Technology in Education or ISTE has recognized the program, and in 2018, LeRoy, colleague Shereen Tyrrell, and former student Gati Aher presented their work on Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots at the ISTE 2018 Conference.

LeRoy believes in personalized learning and project-based learning, which means working with his students to learn and discover technology that is meaningful to them. The program was showcased in the MA DESE’s 2018 annual report. He tries to match his students with their strengths so they can create projects which they are passionate about. Through their ideas and their initiative, the Help Desk program was also awarded a MassCUE Grant to start a drone program. This drone program was directly inspired by former BHS student Eddie Reis, and the idea to write the grant came from former BHS student Melanie Thibodeau who was a CUE Kids presenter at a MassCUE conference. LeRoy is always inspired and excited to collaborate with his talented students and colleagues at Burlington High School

MassCUE would like to recognize LeRoy Wong for his contributions to educators and students everywhere. Congratulations on a job well-done!

LeRoy Wong has been the Digital Learning Coach at Burlington High School since 2016. He currently teaches the Help Desk program, as well as a computer science and video game design course at Burlington High. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Duke University and a Master’s Degree in Risk and Prevention from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. LeRoy has served on the MassCUE Influence and Advocacy Committee since 2019, and has been involved with MassCUE since the early to mid-2000’s when he worked at the Office of Digital Learning at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. LeRoy worked as an instructional technology specialist, project manager, and technology teacher at Boston Public Schools from 2007-2016. LeRoy along with his colleagues and students presented with CUEKids at the MassCUE Conferences in 2017 and 2018. LeRoy co-presented with a colleague and student on Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots at the ISTE 2018 Conference. LeRoy is also the faculty advisor for the Burlington High School Programming Club and eSports Clubs, and in 2020, obtained a remote pilot certificate from the FAA to operate as a drone pilot.