Thank You Instructors

Philip Peavy
Paul Duke STEM High School

Mr. Peavy is a teacher who is always doing things behind the scenes for his students. He is constantly trying to equip us for the real world and finding opportunities for us to strive. He is also one of the advisors fro our Cybersecurity club and has found opportunities there for us to be able to compete in competitions like the most recent one we did. He was able to help us compete in the University of Alabama CTF where we placed first among the new teams. He also takes time out of his day to help us study, for example this week is the week before our certification test and has stayed after school everyday in order to help us study. Not only that but he makes sure that you understand something before moving on.

Nick Eason
Bridging Communities Regional Career and Technical Center

Mr. Eason has always been a great help when it came to test out. Whenever I had a problem or didn't understand a lab, he went over step by step and explained it to me so I would have a better understanding about the assignment. It made learning and completing labs a breeze as I could fully comprehend what I was doing instead of just completing it for a grade. I passed my Network Pro Certification Exam along with a lot of other students in his class and it is all thanks to him. His understanding of the subject at hand and his diligence to make sure we understood the labs makes him a top nomination for TestOut's Teacher Appreciation of 2022. I would greatly consider Mr. Eason as it would mean a lot to me and my whole class to see him nominated for this amazing, well-deserved reward.

Gian Vassaliko
Sewanhaka High School

Brings the class together and makes a great experience, gets everyone involved, teaches beyond video, sense of humor, and makes class feel like a family.

A great teacher and a great guy. Has a passion for teaching and brings up great vibes. We love him.

Mr. Vassaliko is a great teacher. He makes the class enjoyable.

Brandon Duckworth
Grand River Technical School

Brandon Duckworth is one of the best teachers I have ever come across. He is very good at what he does. Some things that make him a great teacher are his ability to connect with his students to better help them understand and learn. Another thing that makes him a great teacher would be his determination towards each and every student. He has belief in all of his students that they will succeed into their future career. All in all, I believe he would be the best teacher for this award.

Mr. Duckworth has brought a lot to the class. Constant motivation, and has brought us introduced to many new skills that I would've never even thought of attempting to learn. I enjoy coming to class everyday, and have thought about getting into this career. He's great to talk to and is willing to answer questions that don't pertain to class. Mr. Duckworth has taught me skills that I can apply to the job i have now. He just knows how to get us interested in the curriculum. Heck, I want to start doing dungeons and dragons because the conversations that had taken place sounded so interesting.

Patricia Avent
Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Covington

Mrs. Avent gets us all excited for being in an IT department. She prepares us for future work force and her determination to help us is incredible. She is a very kind and helpful person. I believe she deserves this award!

Yair Levy
Nova Southeastern University

Dr. Levy is truly passionate about cybersecurity and helping students become knowledgeable in the field. He goes beyond the call of duty to provide his students with practical experience and job ready skills.

Timothy Baron
Schoolcraft College

Professor Baron is extremely patient and willing to help. Throughout the pandemic a lot of classes have been online and despite that, he is easy to reach out to and quick to respond with answers to questions.

Patrick Feder
Milwaukee Area Technical College

Professor Feder goes above and beyond to teach and let his student strive for perfection. He goes the extra mile sometimes to help us become more knowledgeable and he helps us get internships or jobs. He is always working with his students.

Catherine Morris
Clover Park Technical College

Ms. Morris is great! She works well with students and is excellent at teaching. She is a pleasure to be in class with.

Jeremy Noyes
College of Western Idano

Before a test, he brings in donuts. He never gives a test or final on Monday. He is a very chill and awesome teacher. Homework load has never been overbearing. Very knowledgeable and ready to assist at all times.

Laura Gurney
Husson University

Dr. Laura Gurney is an IT teacher like no other. She is very kind, and knowledgeable when it comes to Technology. She makes it her goal to welcome anyone to the technology field. She's also very critical on what she teaches to her students, and she knows how to troubleshoot any IT situation. Because of her class I have dived into more Desktop and Laptop building and I have learned to configure everything in a computer properly. I believe she deserves this nomination because she's a very hard working teacher and she truly cares about her students too.

Tyler Robinson
Great Plains Technology Center

Mr Tyler is a dedicate it professor who regardless the hours during the day that he work always keep a can do attitude. Knowledgeable on his craft and the material. Focus on train the student for the field including real time situation so the student realized and understand the material.

This instructor has been one of the most awesome teachers at this school. Even though it is his first year teaching, he had great teaching methods and is on top of everything. He was already able to have a handful of students who are certified or who are about to be certified, one of which was able to achieve a Sec+ certification by only studying for one week!

Mr. Robinson is an amazing teacher, he explains everything so what we are learning is very easy to understand.

Olutayo Akinrefon
Middleton High School - FL

This teacher is known for teaching about computers and the hardware and software behind computers. A few things you can recognize him for are for his perseverance, persistence, and dedication.

At first meeting Mr.Akinrefon seems as an unorthodox teacher, with his sense of humor and just the general way he talks. However any student who has a class with Mr.Akinrefon realizes how great of a teacher he is. He does his job as a teacher by making sure the class is engaged when he presents a power point and that he answers any questions we have about the curriculum. Mr.Akinrefon makes sure as students we can learn but also as people we can grow. Rather then treat his student's as children he treats us with respect. When students talk to him he listens, and when I say listens I mean he really DOES listen. He asks question's back when having a conversation with student's and when a student seems a little down he always asks if their okay and is patient. When students ask for advice he listens and asks questions to understand the situation and gives the best advice he can. He doesn't just care about having good student's he cares about having great and happy student's.

Mr.Akinrefon has been like a mentor to me. I tend to not always get along with teachers however I grew to like Mr.Akinrefon for his sense of humor and care for helping and interacting with students.

He is kind, tries to help in any way posable, gives his absolute best, will wake up at 1 in the morning to answer questions about homework, will show you how much you care by, explains work in depth.

Michael Bridgehouse
Dauphin County Technical School

He is a great instructor in everything computer/technology based. He finds ways to make his students understand the curriculum and easier ways to understand vocabulary and computer sciences. He has a great sense of humor and is one of the best Computer Networking teachers in the world in my opinion!

Mr. Bridgehouse prepares us for an ever growing and changing tech world. His teaching methods allowed us to all to pass the Testout Network Pro.

Christina Davis
Colorado Early Colleges - Colorado Springs 6-12

She is funny, kind, smart, and sweet.

Gregory Knight
Wallace State Community College

Mr. Knight is awesome. You can tell he has a passion for technology and the way that the world will make use of it. Not only does he have a rockstar pedigree, but you would never know unless you took his class or looked at his resume. His accomplishments can only be outweighed by his patience with students, especially the not so diligent. You can tell he is there for a purpose because he is way "qualified". Anyways, he's a great teacher and I'm glad I have his class. Psst: Give him the blue ribbon.

Excellent planning of courses. Excellent communication with students. Motivating all to exceed and do their best.

Professor Knight is always willing to help. He is an excellent resource of knowledge and asset to his students.

Valerie Karnes
Cerro Coso Community College

According to the class write up, Ms. Karnes started as a part time instructor while working at NAWS China Lake. Years later she became faculty at CCCC teaching basic computers, MS Word, MS Excel on the Macintosh system. For eight years Ms. Karnes lead the Career Technical Education (CTE) as the Dean, returning to the classroom to teach afterward.

Jay Nickelson
Des Moines Area Community College - West

Mr. Nickelson is very specific to the syllabus and makes sure students gets and understand challenging labs and assignments.

Greg Teets
Clark State Community College

Mr. Teets Is a great instructor. He really care for the student he teaches. I have really enjoyed being in his class room. I have learned a lot from him.

Thalya Nero
South Mountain Community College

Ms. Nero gave me positive reinforcement when I was not understanding the TestOut LabSim. She took time out of her busy schedule to make one-on-ones happen with me. She is truly a teacher who cares. She's an amazing instructor.

Steven Bolting
Alvin Community College

Mr. Bolting is the friendliest. He is always looking out for students and has outstanding communication. I think he is an overall awesome guy.

Margaret Tseng
Montgomery College

She is very knowledgeable of the content she teaches, she is always ready to assist students when they need help and you can tell she loves her job.

Kara Calloway
Safford High School

Ms. Calloway is an amazing teacher. She tries to help us with many tech things in life and how to prepare us for working and living.

Sherri McNamara
Greene County Technical Jr. High School

Mrs. McNamara is really kind and funny. She jokes around with us before class and when class starts she gets down to business. She makes sure we get our work done and learn things in the process. You can recognize her as a really good teacher and good person, and for her hard work and dedication to our school.

Shareef Ajam
Central Piedmont Community College

Shareef Ajam is an awesome professor. Recognize for: - Being an understanding professor who is willing to work with you just to make sure you pass his class. - Very patient with his students and knowledgeable about what he expects in his class to help you reach your goal. - I would highly recommend professor Shareef to other college students. - Cares about his students progress.

making sure the students are successful and overall being a great teacher

Linda Lavender
Advanced Technology Center

Ms. Lavender makes sure that the classroom is not a classroom, it is a vehicle for learning, for comfort, and for creating the future generation of IT professionals. She never gives back bad work, she makes sure to work with the student so that they are getting the information they need to get. It is the first time I have ever been excited for a class, and the first time I ever felt like a teacher truly cared about me, not only my personal life, but also my academic life, and I think almost every student in our class could attest to the same thing. Her passion for the class flows through every student, and she goes above and beyond to provide opportunities outside of the classroom including: CTF's, Internships, Scholarships, connections to colleges. There is in my mind, no doubt there is one best teacher to teach this class, (she even wrote the textbook!) and I'm beyond grateful everyday to have her as my teacher.

Dan Wyandt
Penta Career Center

Mr. Wyandt is the most supportive and friendly instructor I've ever seen. He has helped all of his students with their individual needs and makes sure they all learn in the way that suits them best. He is hardworking, motivational, and a great friend.

Meghan Burgin
Morris Hills High School

Mrs. Burgin is dedicated in doing her absolute best to ensure that we learn and attain the practices and skills in the technological field of our studies. She is outgoing, humble, and none the less an empathetic teacher when it comes to our questions and concerns. Therefore, I recommend Mrs. Burgin as nominee for Teacher Appreciation 2022.

Mrs. Burgin is very knowledgeable about the topics she teaches, but more importantly she is able to maintain a friendly environment in order to communicate the content more effectively. Her class is always something to look forward to.

Monica Masuda
Lex La-Ray Technical Center

Mrs. Masuda is a very outgoing teacher who will do whatever she can to help her students succeed. She works very hard every day to guide her students to success in and out of the classroom. Mrs. Masuda is also great at making her classroom into a work environment. She is always trying her best even on bad days. Mrs. Masuda has never slacked off once in this class. She Goes out of her way to better her own knowledge of different certifications just so she can better help guide her students through different certifications that they are taking. Mrs. Masuda is by far one of the best teachers out there.

This teacher is a very good teacher, She lets us be very hands on and lets us mess around while completing the goals we need to achieve. She lets us joke around with her and she even gets personal some times. She is the best teacher.

Talon Jennings
Wichita Technical Institute

Talon always goes above and beyond for his students, and makes sure we have reliable and accurate information to face the professional world with confidence. He also makes sure to take extra time with those who need it and provides us with incredible opportunities to learn and succeed. He treats us like professionals rather than just students.

Very excited to teach, makes things very easy to understand, takes his time individually with students when needed, always checking with students to ensure they are receiving and understanding the information, motivates very well.

Jared Spencer
Strayer University

Prof. Spencer is awesome. He stayed in touch with the class, we had weekly zoom meetings and any questions or concerns he addressed them, and he helped us until we were sure we understood what we were doing. He did weekly check-ups via text and email to ensure adequate assistance if there was anything we didn't understand or needed help with. He would send out motivational emails and text letting us know how well we were doing and how proud of us he was. This means a lot coming from a teacher. It makes you feel like you're not just a student and makes you feel like you're not just a number or a dollar sign. It makes you say, "Yea, I got this" and then you're able to keep going. He was always available whenever I needed help no matter the time. If you sent an email he responded promptly. He made tutorials to help us with the lab sims and in those tutorials, he made sure he explained everything, he broke down each lab and answered questions I didn't even know I had. If I were behind on anything, he would check-in to make sure things were ok. He really cared if we learned and not just if we passed the class.

This professor's classes and lectures are structured in an organized fashion and comprehendible. Professor Spencer has made these courses more welcoming for me. As well as being available to support students when needing assistance.

Professor Spencer helps us acquire knowledge. He's passionate about his work and I can tell he enjoys making a difference in education. His communication skills are great, and he replies in a timely matter if I email him or anything. He's a great professor and I hope every student gets to experience an instructor like him.

Grace Bonanno
College of Weschester

She is a very good, teacher and helps us all the time.

Tom Levec
Prince George's Community College

Professor Tom is an amazing professor he always goes above and beyond for his students. and he's a well-educated professor.

Daniel Delgado
Miami Beach Senior High School

He is an impassioned teacher wishes to educate all his students in class.

Tyler Van Dyke
Kentucky Community & Technical College System

I appreciate him for preparing us for the road ahead (IT Career) He truly cares about his students. He is a good man and cool!

Scott Wilhite
Tri-County Technical Center

Mr. Wilhite is a remarkable teacher, and his teaching methods really reflect the class ability. Overall, he's helpful, kind, and innovative.

Very good man. Will help you with anything you need, especially with school work.

Hes a good guy. Helps us thru our work when we need it and is a great teacher and helps anyone who needs it.

Tayler Lynch
Yellville Summit High School

Where to even start? Mrs. Lynch is arguably one of the most remarkable teachers to have worked on the face of the planet. She works to help her students not only understand the material, but apply it to their everyday lives. She tries her best to let the class be both relatable and fun, whilst still informative, and educational. She appreciates and employs students' talents and skills to their own advantage, to help them move further not only in her class but in their individual lives as well. I hope you choose Mrs. Lynch for this title, not only because she deserves it, but because her students all love and appreciate her for all her hard work, in both our school and in our lives.

Eli Cochran
Delaware Area Career Center

He's incredibly passionate about the subject, and it really shows. He's always enthusiastic about us learning and will not hesitate to take a deep dive into whatever question we have. He's also not afraid to admit when he's made a mistake and to ask US questions. He's just a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm and makes me WANT to go to school. Truly a life-changing teacher.

Mr. Cochran is an excellent instructor who goes above and beyond to ensure that his students are able to make the most of their time in his class. He genuinely cares about all of his students and does everything he can to help them succeed.

He does his best to put us in as many TestOut courses as possible to further our class' education in the Cybersecurity field. He is an excellent teacher and keeps the learning environment positive and encouraging at all times.

Adam Scroggins
Pierce County Skills Center

He's super nice and doesn't get angry at us when we don't understand something. Isn't all that serious, he can be funny when he wants to be and maintains a healthy and comfortable learning environment. Honestly can't imagine someone else teaching this class.

Silvia Quijada
Abram Friedman Occupational School

She is a very good teacher who always goes out of her way to give students the information they need to advance in their career. She teaches many classes and does a great job communicating with students at all skill levels. Even though many classes are hybrid or completely online she makes you feel like you are part of the class. She does a fantastic job even though LAUSD does not have a very big budget for the training we receive.

David Rose
Hinds Community College

Mr. Rose is a great instructor that makes his class engaging and easy to follow for a beginner like me. He's very kind and patient with his students when they struggle to grasp things and he's always willing to go the extra mile to help his students.

Peter Bagley
St Petersburg College

He is very interactive and understanding with his students when they need something.

D.I. von Briesen
Central Piedmont Community College

Mr. Briesen is an amazing teacher! Although this class in based online he makes it very engaging. He answers questions thoroughly as well as to the best of his ability. He also offers plenty of extra credit. So, if you aren't doing so well on your modules or example you have a little wiggle room for you to fall back on. Most people think teachers are here to just give you the information and go on about their day. However, Mr. Briesen creates a space where you are overly helped which makes me extremely grateful. He truly wants everyone to succeed and do their best in class and out!

Michael Grzincich
Anoka-Ramsey Community College

Professor Grzincich has a fantastic balance of taking the TestOut material and giving both hands on and real life examples to apply the content into every day life.

Ingrid Smith
Bates Technical College

Ms.Ingrid is outstanding and always helps her new students. She always helps any student who needs help.

Chris Terranova
Delaware Technical Community College

Professor Terranova is very informative. He knows how to deliver the course material in a way that students can easily understand the most complicated stuff.

Prakash Phalke
College of Southern Nevada

Mr. Phalke is the teacher you always wish you had early on in your IT studies. He is a true master of information technology with the ability to instruct a student on the most basic to the most advanced skills. He has incredible patience coupled with equally demanding expectations. The end result is the best combination of traits a student can have if he or she is pursuing a career in IT because not only will I (and my classmates) achieve the required skills, we also are developing rare virtues that are very valuable in teams.

Amanda Tees
Mercy Career & Technical High School

Amanda is the hardest working woman ever. She gets her work done, and makes sure her students get through their work too.

Charles White
Colorado Mesa University

Mr. White is an amazing teacher at Colorado Mesa University that goes above and beyond for his students. Very helpful, friendly, and will do whatever it takes to make sure the student is taken care of.

James Stephens
Des Moines Area Community College - West

Even though J. is battling cancer and losing his hair and his strength, he comes into class every week with a smile on his face and a passion to teach. Having two classes with him in different semesters, I've personally got to see his transition from having hair to fighting the cancer with Chemo. This man is an absolute gem. He served in the US air force and was diagnosed with cancer while deployed. He is a man that has tried to do the right thing and has been dealt a rough hand. I cannot express enough the wonderful soul James is. He has helped me further develop my passion for IT. If anyone should get a little recognition, I believe it should be him.