KK Quah's classroom is not something you would typically see in a school or even in a movie set.
One wall is lined with computers, with another corner completely overloaded with circuit boards and robotic parts. A glass case is filled with banners and trophies from the eight years he has taught. And in the center of a wall is a large square "ring" where students' robots can face off against one another.
Yes, robots.
Quah is a STEM teacher at Tampa Preparatory School where he teaches engineering, coding and robotics to 10th through 12th grade students. Like his classroom, his journey to becoming a teacher is also atypical: he originally came to Tampa to take engineering classes at the University of South Florida and liked the city so much he decided to stay.
His background allows him to teach students skills many other teachers are simply unequipped to do so.
"The reality is they're not trained — if you're a high school teacher you have grading, high teaching ... then when will you find time to learn this?" Quah said. "I come from the coding world, so for me it's hard but not impossible. For many teachers, they never had the training."
He said Tampa Prep in particular allows him to blaze his own path for the curriculum, which includes engineering and coding.
"We’re in an independent school and the headmaster has been fantastic for supporting me," he said. "They felt I knew the vision of where to go. They give me a budget and say, 'Go for it,' and I did."
Quah "going for it" includes teaching students to build homes using virtual reality, laser cutting, engineering, robotics and what he deems the least advanced thing in his classroom, a 3D printer. He is hopeful he will soon be able to teach artificial intelligence to his students and recently bought an Amazon Web Services robot.
"I look at the trends and prepare the kids to be ready," he said. "And a school like mine is great, because they realize the word preparatory is key. So, they gave me a free hand to charge forward with some of my ideas. A regular school may not be able to do that or have the budget to do it."
He also runs a "Makers Club," for juniors and seniors that teach students to go even further in technology. Students visited his classroom during their winter break to continue to tweak their robots, which face off against one another and complete challenges like putting a block through a mini basketball hoop.
The club members have gone on to the VEX Robotics World Championship three times and won the state competition in 2014.
"They are making stuff every day and solving problems," Quad said. "It's teaching engineering but for the real world. How do you teach a kid what is appropriate for a specific problem? But, if you let them create a solution they understand them better."
