Green River Engineering Instructor Honored as UW Inspirational Teacher

Janet Ash, a Green River Community College Engineering faculty member, has been chosen as a 2012 University of Washington Inspirational Teacher.

The UW’s Computer Science and Engineering department asks its undergraduate students to nominate their most inspirational high school or community college teacher for the Inspirational Teacher award. Ash was nominated by two former students now enrolled as undergraduates in the UW department. She was also nominated in 2008 and 2009.

“My experience with students has led me to believe that students learn when they are offered many different ways to grasp new concepts,” Ash said of her teaching philosophy. “I believe that material is learned when students spend more time studying. It’s often a matter of ‘time in the saddle.’ The more time students spend learning and practicing new material, the better they will do.”

Josh Clearman, the dean who oversees the Technology division of which Ash is a member, said the nomination spoke to Ash’s efforts and skill with students.

“Talk about a dynamo!” he said. “Janet demonstrates superior skills in teaching ability and technical expertise. The students and staff are grateful she is a part of the team.”

Former student Oleg Godunok said about Ash: “Defining and explicating both object oriented and procedural programming in a succinct way, the computer science/engineering instructor Janet Ash found it essential to get everyone affiliated in lectures and in class assignments and labs. From complexity, encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism to collections such as binary trees, sets, and maps, the classes that I took with her were the highlight of my day.”

Ash’s other nomination came from Xiaoxia Jia, who said: “Janet Ash was a really big influence in my decision to pursue a major in CSE. While at GRCC she was extremely helpful and showed me a lot of encouragement throughout my programming classes. The comfort I received from her made things much easier to learn.”

Ash started teaching part-time more than 20 years ago and has spent the last 10 years at Green River. “This award means so much to me,” she said. “I am here to help students have success at the university in a career with real challenges and respect.”

Editor's Note: Information provided by Green River Community College.