Member Spotlight: Nick Harker
Nick Harker is a CS educator at Spanaway Lake High School, one of four high schools in Bethel School District. His 3rd year of teaching will start in August 2026.
Nick is the current Treasurer of the board, elected for the 2026-2028 period.
Background
Nick Harker started his career as a data engineer and analyst at a small company in the market research industry. After 7 years of working there, he was laid off. Nick used that time to start his education degree, and only a few months later, Nick found a substitute position to fill. Now Nick has filled the position that he was subbing for and looks forward to building his program!
Nick with a balloon that “looks just like Nick’s two children, Emmett (left) and Stevie (right)
him” according to his students.
In the Classroom
Nick Harker currently teaches Introduction to Programming, PLTW’s Computer Science Essentials, and Empowering Your Future (Digitools). Nick credits a lot of his pedagogy and practice to his PLC in Bethel SD, two other CS teachers in the other high schools. “They have really given me more help than I could ever ask for, and I look forward to working with them for many more years,” Nick says. His PLC was also how he found out about CSTA and how they support educators.
In the Future
Nick looks forward to serving on the CSTA board for the next two years. He says, “WACSTA has given me such a great opportunity to connect with other CS teachers around the state and being able to affect how the board is run provides me with the tools to help other CS teachers too.”
At Spanaway Lake HS, Nick is hoping to build the CS program up to a four-year pathway in the next couple years. “Being in a low-income community, Spanaway Lake HS is really missing out on having a full CS pathway and providing that specific potential income source to students. There is a whole career pathway not currently available to my students, and I plan on changing that,” Nick says about the pathway.
