Volunteer Spotlight – Sheryl Mathew

Introducing Sheryl Mathew

Sheryl has been volunteering with SJPL for well over a year. She started as on-site coding volunteer at Joyce Ellington Branch Library with her on-demand Python and Java computer programming classes. When the branches temporarily closed in the middle of March of 2020 due to COVID-19, Sheryl quickly regrouped and almost immediately contacted the library to offer her services as a virtual volunteer. Since then, she quickly developed and taught three 8-class courses teaching children multiple coding languages at various levels of advancement through her Introduction to Java - A Virtual Coding Class program.

Sheryl is the founder and president of Next Gen Coders through which she is inspiring the next generation to change the world through code.

Sheryl is an amazing instructor: very knowledgeable and passionate about coding. She sincerely cares for her students and is very patient to explain the concepts. She is very meticulous and organized while at the same time a very energetic and positive person.

Sheryl has made a tremendous difference to the children and teens that she has served at our library by becoming a role model and coding superstar.

Submitted by Librarian, Karolina Gorgolewski from the Joyce Ellington Branch Library

A Chat with Sheryl

As a child... I read a lot of books

My first job... was tutoring kids in coding

My fondest memory... is watching a movie with my family

I am most proud of... when I can see that one of my students understands what I’m trying to teach

My biggest challenge... is self-doubt

My role model... my grandmother

My favorite book is... “The God of Small Things”

I volunteer... because I see myself in the people I help

If I weren't volunteering, I'd be... coding