
The
Virginia
Technology
and
Engineering
Education
Association
(VTEEA)
has
named
Tim
Vaughan,
technology
and
engineering
education
teacher
at
Marsteller
Middle
School,
as
the
2021
Virginia
Middle
School
Technology
Education
Teacher
of
the
Year.
The
award
was
presented
at
the
VTEEA
summer
conference,
held
virtually
this
year.
Vaughan
was
first
nominated
for
local
recognition
by
his
colleagues
and
was
then
selected
at
the
Northern
Virginia
regional
level
earlier
this
year,
putting
him
in
the
running
for
the
state
award.
This
award
is
one
of
the
highest
honors
given
to
technology
and
engineering
education
teachers
and
recognizes
a
teacher's
outstanding
contributions
to
the
profession
and
to
students.
Superintendent
Dr.
LaTanya
D.
McDade
presented
a
recognition
plaque
to
Vaughan
in
his
classroom
on
the
first
day
of
school.
He
will
also
receive
the
International
Technology
and
Engineering
Educators
Association
(ITEEA)
Teacher
Excellence
Award
at
the
ITEEA's
84th
annual
conference
in
Orlando,
Florida,
scheduled
to
be
held
in
March
2022.
While
Vaughan
always
had
an
interest
in
engineering,
he
says
it
was
his
grandmother's
example
that
led
him
to
education.
"My
grandma
was
an
elementary
school
teacher
in
Ireland;
she
inspired
me
to
get
involved
in
teaching,"
said
Vaughan,
who
has
been
teaching
at
Marsteller
Middle
for
nearly
20
years
and
taught
in
Dublin,
Ireland,
for
13
years
prior
to
that.
"My
high
school
engineering
teacher
in
Ireland
inspired
me
to
get
involved
in
the
[engineering]
field.
With
the
addition
of
technology,
the
field
is
always
changing,
and
you
have
to
evolve;
I
like
it
because
you
have
to
keep
adapting
to
stay
current.
With
new
technology
and
new
procedures,
you
have
to
stay
on
top
and
it
keeps
it
fresh."
At
Marsteller,
Vaughan
also
serves
as
the
department
chair
for
exploratory
arts
and
foreign
languages.
During
2020,
he
designed
a
mentoring
program
for
all
students
at
the
school,
and
he
was
featured
in
a
news
story
on
ABC
News
about
a
virtual
beehive
tour
video
he
created
for
science
colleagues
and
students.
"It
is
my
philosophy
that,
while
we
are
allowing
our
students
to
"have
fun,"
we
must
also
foster
a
desire
for
research,
allowing
them
to
explore
various
careers
supplemented
by
related
hands-on
activities,"
said
Vaughan.
"I
have
always
believed
that
students
must
be
given
the
opportunity
to
investigate
and
explore
using
the
problem-solving
process.
Project-based
learning
is
an
essential
educational
strategy
in
my
classroom.
Allowing
students
the
opportunity
to
witness
firsthand
the
design
process
from
project
inception
to
conclusion
seems
to
simplify
engineering
for
most
students.
When
students
use
these
concepts
and
apply
them
to
other
subjects
and
real-life
situations,
it
gives
me
great
satisfaction."