YES Prep Public Schools
Advancement team
Anders Schneider, donor

Anders “Andy” Schneider was born in New Jersey but mostly grew up in Evanston, Illinois. He studied physics at Williams College before moving to Houston where he taught eleventh-grade physics at YES Prep Southwest Secondary from 2012 to 2014. During this time, he also served as the physics district course leader from 2013 to 2014.  

Andy left YES Prep to follow his passion for software development. He continued his education in computer science, earning a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania that led him to a career with Google, where he started in 2016 and currently works there today.  

Andy began making small monthly donations to YES Prep in 2016 and has continued to incrementally increase his giving over time!  

Before becoming a software engineer for Google, you were teaching at YES Prep. What drew you to become an educator in the first place? 

In high school, I was lucky to have two incredible teachers and mentors: Doc V and Doc K. They were so thoughtful about their work, and their love for teaching came through so clearly. I was, and continue to be, so inspired by the two of them. I was also lucky to be at a large public high school, where conversations about racial and socioeconomic equity in education were happening all the time. In college, I dove deeper into the education policy space through Students For Education Reform. By the end of college, I was excited to be more directly involved in K12 education by getting into the classroom. 

How did you first learn about YES Prep? 

In my senior year of undergraduate, I went to a job fair in New York City and met a recruiter for YES Prep. I wasn't there to look for jobs for myself - I was looking for internship opportunities for other students. But the conversation with the YES Prep recruiter was so energizing that I ended up looking more into YES and eventually applying for a job. 

Why did you choose to be a teacher specifically at YES Prep? 

I was drawn to high-performing charter schools in general, and YES's mission felt meaningful and aligned with the type of work I wanted to be doing. But more than anything, I think it was honestly the interactions with the teachers (especially Jeremy Tullis, who hosted me when I came to interview), the administration (Cliff Claflin, who was YES Prep Southwest Secondary principal), and the students (during my sample teach) at YES Prep Southwest Secondary when I went to an interview there. I loved the energy and sense of community at Southwest, and I remember feeling so excited and grateful when I was offered the job. 

I was drawn to high-performing charter schools in general, and YES's mission felt meaningful and aligned with the type of work I wanted to be doing.

What is your fondest memory from your time at YES Prep?

Andy Schneider, Teacher

This immediately brought back a flood of memories - it's impossible to pick just one! It was so special to get to know each group of students: the nervous excitement on the first day of the school year; the fun of getting to watch each class take on its own distinct personality; how surprisingly hilarious and insightful these kids were; getting to know them more as full people through lunchtime conversations, tutorials, Physics Fridays, school events, bid trips, etc. There are so many wonderful memories with those students, and I feel deeply lucky to have gotten to teach them. 
 
I also felt so lucky to be a part of an incredible group of teachers at Southwest: it was such a supportive, inspiring, and fun-loving group. Even little things like hanging out in the teacher's lounge, grade-level meetings and spring trips are such fond memories. 

What would you say to someone who is considering being a teacher straight out of college, but unsure if they want to make a long-term career out of it? 

I would strongly encourage anyone who is curious about teaching to take a job at a school district like YES Prep. It felt like the perfect place to be as an early-career teacher: the YES community is so strong and supportive, the teacher training is personal and excellent, and the school culture is so inspiring. 

Now you are a software engineer at Google. Could you share more about your role with Google?  

I'm a software engineer for a data storage team - we build infrastructure to help teams across Google (Search, YouTube, Ads, etc.) store and retrieve data. I spend much of my workday writing/reviewing code, debugging why some piece of software isn't working correctly, writing design docs, and collaborating with people from across Google. The types of projects my team focuses on: making our system faster and cheaper, ensuring that we're in compliance with all of Google's user data commitments and building features that other teams are asking for. 

Do you have any advice to share with our students who may be interested in entering this field of work? 

I think it's an exciting and interesting line of work, and I hope that several YES students are interested in it! To those who are, I'd say that studying computer science in college (or in high school, if it's offered!) is a great path into software engineering jobs. But it's definitely not the only path! Many people start by teaching themselves a little bit, from free tutorials or courses online (e.g. through Khan Academy). Once you know a little bit, you can start to work on little personal projects (e.g. building a simple website), and that can be hugely motivating and helpful in building skills. 

And, regardless of how you get involved in software engineering, it's so helpful to find your way into a community of people who are also pursuing the same type of work/study. Everything from writing code to preparing for interviews is way more fun to do with friends who are also on the same path! 

You left the YES Prep classroom in 2016 but continued to support YES all these years. What motivates you to continue to support YES Prep? 

I continue to feel inspired by the culture and sense of community that I experienced at YES Prep Southwest. I think that YES is a special organization. One specific thing that brings me immense joy and makes me believe that YES is doing such important work is the number of my former students who have returned to YES Prep as teachers. 

I continue to feel inspired by the culture and sense of community that I experienced at YES Prep Southwest. I think that YES is a special organization.

Thank you, Anders Schneider, for your ongoing support of YES Prep! 

Game Changers is a monthly giving program where a community of loyal supporters, like Anders, help to ensure students have access to a high-quality education no matter the circumstance. Giving through Game Changers is a convenient way to provide sustainable support for YES Prep students on their college journey, all year long. 

Through monthly giving, you can become the Game Changer our students need. Click here to join today!  

Interested in learning more about career opportunities at YES Prep? Click here

 


Sign up to receive The News Update directly in your inbox

The News Update is YES Prep Public Schools monthly e-newsletter where we share the latest news, teacher and student stories, as well as upcoming events and important dates. 

Subscribe to newsletter