Interview with Jason Leveille
Jason Leveille is a former teacher at Quince Orchard High School, where he taught programming, website development, and software applications. Behind the scenes he wrote a lot of curriculum for those three sites, trained staff, and most importantly was/is a strong promoter of web standards. Jason and Tobias Gelston are the reason I know what I do about the web.
Jason is from the great state of Maine, he came to Maryland and continued his teaching career. After teaching programming he fell in love with website development and began to soak up everything he could about it. He developed an awesome website for QOHS and received some great recognition for it. He was also named Career and Technology teacher of the year a few years ago.
After jumping full force into web development he realized his first love. In 2007 he gave up teaching and accepted a position at Blue Atlas Interactive, a web development firm in Germantown, MD. Today you can find his place on the web at http://jasonleveille.com.
I met Jason for the first time about 2 years ago, since then we have become good friends. I could think of no one better to begin my interviews with.
Give us your back story, how did you fall into this field?
My degree is a BS in Math and Computer Education. Unfortunately when I graduated in 1999, this really meant that I didn’t know much about Math, and I really didn’t know much about computers. Student teaching taught me quickly that even though my computer knowledge was just barely above that of a sixth graders, that is what I wanted to be teaching. My first two years of teaching I taught Web Design at the HS level, and looking back on that time I realize how much I learned, and how much I really didn’t know. My 3rd and 4th years of teaching saw me move away from Web Design and into Computer Programming. It was this move that had the single largest impact on developing my passion for Web Development. When I saw what programming introduced to my Web skills (client and server side), I was hooked. My wife will tell you that for the next two years I probably didn’t go to bed before midnight, as I was constantly working and learning. I really focused on Web Standards and CSS during that time. I became the Webmaster at the school where I taught (Quince Orchard High School), and during years 4 - 8 of my teaching I moved back into teaching Web Design, while continuing to teach programming. Last year I decided that even though I loved teaching, and I was pretty good at it, I really needed to be doing development full time, and that is what I’m doing now. Also of note, in 2004 I started a MSCS program, and in May of 2009 I will finally graduate!
What's your educational background?
BS in Math and Computer Education. Working towards a MSCS.
Did you find your education beneficial to your field/current job? How so?
Unfortunately, I have not found my past or present education beneficial to what I do on a daily basis. My undergrad barely prepared me for teaching, and my current MSCS program is too heavily focused on theory. I should have gotten a degree in Software Engineering. Oh well.
Tell us about your work, what do you find yourself working on most of your days?
Most days I can be found working with CSS, JavaScript and PHP/MySql. Just the way I like it. I often take the designs of others and turn them into CSSified templates. Recently I took a large project from conception to completion, developed in PHP (with splatterings of JS and Ajax). 6 months or so ago I worked for about 2 months in .net (C#). On any given day I touch 2 -3 different projects.
So I don't know if you've heard but the students at Damascus High School are studying Web Standards, Accessibility, JavaScript, AJAX, PHP, Databases, and more. What's your take on this?
Don’t waste your time. Just create a page in MS Word and save it as HTML. Also, you could just design your site in FireWorks, slice it up, and export it as HTML/JS. Who cares if it might use tables for layout. Who cares if it isn’t accessible and only you can access the site on your Windows 98, IE5.5 Dell desktop.
Ok. Seriously, you may not realize it now, but you are being prepared to enter the world of Development with an exceptionally strong skillset. It is important that care and attention are taken regarding how your site renders cross browser and platform. It is important that accessibility is a first class citizen in your development/deployment goals. It is important that you think about how you can enhance the experience of a user client side, without sacrificing performance, and without relying too much on JS/Ajax. It does matter that you are prepared for a constantly evolving Web. A solid foundation will prepare you in ways that you will grow to appreciate in the years to come. Here’s a tip ... pretend as you are putting a site together that you have never heard about JS/Ajax. Build the entire site and make sure it works as intended. Than start layering on the JS goodies. It will pay dividends in the long run.
With Web Design/Development being in it's infancy in the occupational field there is a struggling number of quality undergraduate programs and no Masters' or Doctoral programs. What are your suggestions for a high school graduate who has decided to pursue higher education in this field?
Well, perhaps it is from my own experience, but my advice would be to get your BS in Software Engineering, and don’t bother with Graduate school. Obtain a solid software development foundation, which will only serve to better your PHP/.net/JS skills. You might have to suffer through a few years of programming in Java, but it will be worth it. You should learn about software patterns (to enhance maintainability), debugging/testing (to ensure quality), and deployment (to get the application running where it needs to be running). While you are doing your undergrad thing, freelance on the side. Make some good cash and build up a solid client base. Perhaps the single most important piece of advice though, is never stop learning. Never rest on what you currently know. Always seek to explore the brains of others who are in the field you want to be in. See what they are thinking.
If you could only design monochromatically from now on what color would you use and why?
Boddingtons Yellow
If you could only program in one language what would it be and why?
JS. I say this because it is such a versatile and powerful language. One that can run clientside of course, but that will one day perhaps power our serverside apps (see Jaxer).
If you could only read one blog for the rest of your days what would it be and why?
It would likely be Ajaxian.com. I love knowing what is going on in the world of JavaScript. Plus, they usually post links and articles from other blogs around the world. So, I’m really reading many blogs by reading the one blog.
In conclusion, if there was only one nugget you can pass on to high school students (14 through 18 year old) web design related or not, what would it be?
Subscibe to blogs, read books, and care about improving your skills (technical as well as non-technical: communication, writing, etc). Otherwise you’ll become stale and out of touch. You would be surprised how highly valued an employee is if they can communicate, write, and think critically. Oh, and while your perfecting your skills have fun. Travel. Do a semester abroad.
This is the second nugget, but whose counting? Always ask yourself if the work you are putting together can easily be maintained by others. Just because you create something on the job doesn’t mean yours will be the only hands that dig into the code. There will come a time when it will likely have to be maintained by someone else. Give some thought to that someone else and how you can make their job easier.
Thanks Jason. I appreciate you taking time out of your life to answer these questions.
Again, if you would like to visit Jason’s site you can find his nook at http://jasonleveille.com.
