Oakland Schools issued the following announcement on Oct. 26.
An engineering, robotics, and mechatronics teacher from Pontiac has been named a winner of the 2020 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, receiving $50,000 as part of $1 million awarded to 18 trades teachers nationwide today.
Demetrius Wilson, who teaches engineering, robotics, and mechatronics at Oakland Schools Technical Campus Northeast in Pontiac, will receive $50,000—including $35,000 for the school’s skilled trades program and $15,000 for him personally. He joins 14 other Prize winners, who each received $50,000, and three Grand Prize winners, who each received $100,000 as part of the annual prize.
“This year has been one of the toughest on record for skilled trades teachers as they switch between in-person, remote or blended learning—all while trying to do their life’s work of preparing the next generation of tradespeople,” said Danny Corwin, executive director of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools. “At a time when tradespeople are more essential than ever, so is trades education. We are honored and grateful to have the chance to shine a spotlight on these teachers’ amazing work.”
The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence was started in 2017 by Eric Smidt, the founder of national tool retailer Harbor Freight Tools, to recognize outstanding instruction in the skilled trades in U.S. public high schools and the teachers who inspire students to learn skills to prepare for life after graduation. As recent research from JFF (formerly known as Jobs for the Future) and funded by Harbor Freight Tools for Schools found, students who “concentrate” (or take multiple trades courses as part of a program) are more likely to graduate than their peers. Upon graduation, students are prepared for either further education or work in fields that routinely rank among the hardest jobs to fill and that have come to be widely recognized as “essential” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Trades teachers are educating and developing the tradespeople of the future,” Smidt said. “Many of the students in their classes today will become—as soon as next spring—the workers who keep our critical care infrastructure, our communication networks, our homes and cars up and running. The prize is our way of saying thank you to their teachers.”
Demetrius Wilson is an engineering, robotics and mechatronics teacher at Oakland Schools Technical Campus Northeast (OSTC-NE) in Pontiac, Michigan. Wilson has been an educator for 29 years. In addition to helping students learn computer-aided design, robotics, fluid power, mechanical drive systems and computer numerical control (CNC) programming, Wilson also mentors fellow teachers and coordinates with industry partners to create curriculum. Wilson’s mechatronics program allows students to receive articulated credit with numerous postsecondary institutions and to pursue advanced learning through the Michigan Advanced Technician Training Program (MAT2). Within the last seven years, Wilson assisted more than 30 of his students to place into the MAT2 program, resulting in a $2.5 million-dollar investment in his students. Wilson was a finalist for the 2019 Prize for Teaching Excellence.
For a list of all 18 winners and finalists, click here.
Grand Prize winners will each receive $100,000, with $70,000 going to their public high school skilled trades program and $30,000 to the individual skilled trades teacher behind the winning program. The 15 Prize winners will each be awarded $50,000, with $35,000 going to their public high school program and $15,000 to the teacher. Because of school, district and/or state policy regarding individual cash awards, the schools of two teachers will receive the entire prize winnings. Cash awards given to schools will support winning teachers’ skilled trades programs. Individual winnings can be used however the winner wishes.
The 2020 prize drew more than 600 applications from 48 states and included three rounds of judging, each by an independent panel of experts from industry, education, trades, philanthropy and civic leadership. The application process, which included responses to questions and a series of learning modules, was designed to solicit each teacher’s experience, insights and creative ideas about their approach to teaching and success in helping their students achieve excellence in the skilled trades. All learning modules are available here.
In July, the field was narrowed to 50 finalists. The 32 finalists who were not named winners today will receive $1,000 gift cards from Harbor Freight Tools. Additionally, given the challenges teachers are facing due to COVID-19, teachers who applied for the prize but did not advance to become finalists were eligible to receive $100 gift cards from Harbor Freight Tools.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Oakland Schools
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