SHS’s Programming and Web Development Class Exemplifies Real-World Learning

CTE educator Gabriel Yeager’s classroom space offers collaboration, corporate feel

SALEM (Mar. 17, 2025) – Room 230 in Salem High School isn’t the corporate space of a high-profile tech company, but it isn’t far off.

For Gabriel Yeager, a programming and web development instructor in Salem High School’s Career Technical Education department, it is the use of his classroom space that enhances learning: it is part classroom, part boardroom and part lounge.

There is even a place to make a cup of coffee.

“It’s a non-traditional space,” Mr. Yeager said. “It’s open and collaborative with work stations lining the walls.” 

There are lounge-style chairs, carpets, high-top tables and creative use of lighting. In the middle of the back wall, there is a large touchview monitor with smaller monitors on either end of the room, each remote casted. In another room off to the side, there is a smaller space with boardroom-style tables and chairs.

Last November, it was this very setup that impressed a couple of visitors from the One8 Foundation, which provides schools with access and resources for applied learning programs and supports Project Lead The Way (PLTW) initiatives.

The One8 officials were impressed with not only the layout of his classroom, but how Mr. Yeager conducted his class (on this day, a competition among his students). It was bustling: collaboration, teams, lots of discussion, use of the monitors back and forth from work stations. 

“They liked how I ran my class,” Mr. Yeager said.

Thus, they asked him to present at the Massachusetts PLTW Spring Professional Development Day which he did last Tuesday at the Sheraton Four Points in Norton, Mass.

Mr. Yeager partnered with Katie Cunningham, an information technology instructor at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational & Technical High School, to deliver the presentation, ‘Creating a Collaborative Classroom.’

“The presentation was well received,” Mr. Yeager said. “Participants walked away eager to incorporate strategies on paired programming and to collaborate with other instructors in the room for cross-district programming activities.”

There is a method to Mr. Yeager’s classroom madness: the last two years, he has accompanied a group of students to Google’s offices in Boston’s Financial District.

“This is the kind of workspace my students are going to see in the industry,” Mr. Yeager noted. “We try to keep with the theme and replicate it here.”

Mr. Yeager’s collaborative classroom is the embodiment of the District’s Strategic Plan’s core value of elevating learning. 

“The atmosphere is really comfortable,” said junior Kris Grace, who interned in the CTE department. “It’s professional in a way that you can get work done without much distraction. It’s a really comfortable space.”

About Salem Public Schools

Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Our leaders and our teachers are all passionate about education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement with equity and social-emotional needs as the lens we view all of our work through. We respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community. Salem Public Schools staff serve all of our students, regardless of ability or language. Salem Public Schools enrolls approximately 4,000 students across its eleven schools.