Teacher: Susan Garcia

District: Palm Beach County

For more than 20 years, Susan Garcia has inspired Jupiter High School students through innovative, real-world computer science and cybersecurity education. A former programmer and computer coordinator at Pratt & Whitney, she brings industry experience into the classroom to build students’ creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Garcia expanded cybersecurity and programming pathways by founding the Computer Science Honor Society and helping grow the school’s Cybersecurity Academy. Her students compete in leading national programs and competitions, including AFA CyberPatriot, CISCO Networking Academy, Lockheed Martin Cyber Quest and Code Quest, CyberLaunch, and multiple collegiate-level programming tournaments.

She is now leading the launch of Jupiter High School’s Esports Academy, developing a curriculum that integrates Scratch, Minecraft MakeCode, Minecraft AI and Cybersecurity, and Unity with C# to deliver hands-on learning in coding, game development, simulations, and cybersecurity.

Garcia was recently named a Final Four finalist for the 2026 Dwyer Award in the STEM category, recognizing her impact on students and the future cybersecurity and computer science workforce.

Thanks for all you do, Ms. Garcia!

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