Buffalo Grove High technology programs honored
Buffalo Grove High School was recently awarded the Technology Education High School Program of the Year through the Technology Education Association of Illinois.
Each year, the Technology Education Association of Illinois awards individuals and programs at the Illinois Technology Education Conference that are making significant contributions to the field of technology education.
The High School Program of the Year award acknowledges Buffalo Grove's superior technology education program, which serves 450 students in several career pathways, including manufacturing, engineering, graphic arts, media broadcasting, automotive technology and informational technology.
"This is an incredible honor, and I couldn't be more proud of, or think of a more deserving group, than our teachers at BG," said Buffalo Grove High School Principal Jeff Wardle.
"Every day, they put students' interests first, and have opened up opportunities that simply did not exist to our students even three or four years ago. Kudos to them! They are a model for high schools around the state of what empathetic and high-powered education ought to look like."
Courses in these subjects include opportunities to earn early college credit through Advanced Placement and dual credit courses. Students also can earn industry certifications through the automotive and manufacturing pathways.
Buffalo Grove students have hands-on learning experiences to explore careers and build job skills outside of the classroom. For example, through the school's Geometry in Construction course, which has grown from 18 to 90 students in two years, students help build a home for a wounded veteran.
Advanced graphic arts students design promotional materials for the school and manufacturing and engineering students build robots and high mileage vehicles that compete at the state and regional levels.
In addition to teaching high school students, the technology education program also works with 75 middle school students each semester as part of the Next Generation of Engineers after school program.
Much of the curriculum for this program, which includes classes focused on aerospace and computer science, was written by Buffalo Grove educators.
Technology education staff members at Buffalo Grove include educators Kyle Pichik, Sean Murrin, Sara Farrell, Phil Tschammer and Jeff Bott, who also serves as the division head of career and technical education. Math teachers Brian Foecking and Tom Cooney also co-teach the school's Geometry in Construction courses.
The award will be presented at the Illinois Technology Education Conference in November.
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