Previous Winners

Mike Degitis teaches Infrastructure Engineering - Construction at Cherry Creek Innovation Campus in Centennial, Colorado. He began his teaching career in the math department at a traditional high school in Denver. In 2019, his district established the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus (CCIC), a career and technical education facility aimed at reshaping high school education and career preparation. When the CCIC opened, Degitis found his dream job, merging his love for building with shaping young minds. He seeks to inspire students to pursue careers in the skilled trades by sharing his experiences as an entrepreneur, carpenter, and remodeler.

In Degitis’ classroom, learning begins with addressing a real-life challenge, such as proposing a solution for the homelessness crisis in Denver. The process starts with peer discussions, brainstorming, and sharing experiences to determine the necessary knowledge. The construction students at the CCIC collaborate with the Colorado Village Collaborative, a Denver non-profit aiding the transition of the unhoused out of homelessness. They build five tiny homes a year at material cost for a village in Downtown Denver, which provides housing and wraparound services such as career counseling and mental healthcare. The students engaged with the client, architect, and engineer, and have recently completed their 21st Tiny Home. The students manage the entire project themselves, including client meetings, scheduling, budgeting, research, construction, city inspections, and fundraising for care packages. The construction program at the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus has experienced consistent growth in enrollment each year. Over the past three years, the program has reached full capacity, with staff taking on additional workloads to accommodate more students.

Notes of Excellence

• Students graduating the CCIC are career ready: 100 percent of Year 1 students receive their OSHA 10 certifications, and over 95 percent graduate with their HBI PACT Core certificate, enabling them to work on site before turning 18.

• Success is measured by stories such as Jaden and Anna, both of whom found their place at the CCIC, competed in SkillsUSA state and national competitions. Jaden is now in his second year of an electrical apprenticeship with Sturgeon Electric, while Anna signed a $60,000 contract as a local building engineer.

• Enrollment of female students has increased from 6 (representing 6 percent of the class) in the program's first year to 24 in 2024 (15 percent).

• The Construction Program at Cherry Creek Innovation Campus averages 150 students per year, with an additional 50 on the waitlist. Next year, enrollment will increase to 160 students.

Laurie Hilderbrand teaches welding at Soquel High School in Soquel, California. Hilderbrand fell in love with “iron and steel” in her hometown of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, where the architecture teemed with interesting metal work. When she went to community college, she fell in love with welding, kickstarting a path that would lead her to teaching art and welding at Soquel High School for 16 years. Hilderbrand took charge of the welding program at Soquel High School in 2015, where she makes an impact on her students everyday.

Hilderbrand gives her welding students the freedom to craft a project-based learning experience from concept to design to fabrication and testing. Her class is not only aligned with California College and Career Ready Anchor Skills standards, but also welding, manufacturing and product development industry standards. Welding students complete these project-based assignments from freshman to senior year in order to show their mastery of the curriculum. One year, a student who now studies engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo built a steel guitar. This project, which the student worked on from the blueprint stage to hand-cutting plasma cutting and welding the pieces together, demonstrated where hand-on-learning, technical skills and creativity align. With the industry connections that Hilderbrand brings to the classroom, many of her students graduate prepared to study engineering, trades or start their own business straight out of high school.

Notes of Excellence

• Hilderbrand is on her school district’s CTE Advisory Board Committee, meeting four to six times per year with industry partners and stakeholders to improve their programs.

• In her free time, Hilderbrand fabricates artistic metal sculptures that she sells at art and trade shows.

• Hilderbrand has an A.S. in Liberal Arts, Welding, and Ornamental Iron, a B.S. in Career & Technical Education (with a focus on welding), and a master’s in education in STEAM from the University of San Diego, among other certifications.

David Darden teaches Automotive Technology at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Georgia. His lifelong passion for mechanics began when he was a young child, building everything from model cars to hot rods, repairing lawn mowers, and learning through hands-on trial and error. After graduating from East Tennessee State University and 35 years working for Georgia’s Caterpillar dealer, Darden followed his passion and began to teach, later earning an MEd and EdS degree from the University of Georgia.

Darden’s industry-certified automotive program mirrors the experience of working in a professional shop. His students first pass an extensive safety test series and then take on work-based learning, progressing from replacing a headlight or air filter to swapping out an entire blown engine. Darden emphasizes critical thinking, attention to detail, and communication in addition to honing students’ electronics, troubleshooting, and diagnostic skills. He also incorporates SkillsUSA competition preparation into his curriculum. Darden’s classes have completed projects like installing a bandstand on a bus for a local business, building a hot rod that they display at car shows, and restoring vintage cars. Graduates of the program are finding professional and entrepreneurial success, with many operating their own lucrative businesses using the leadership and technical skills they gained in Darden’s classes.

Notes of Excellence

• Darden’s program is ASE/NATEF certified, allowing students to earn the ASE certification upon graduation and completion of the automotive pathway.

• Advisory Committee members to Darden’s automotive program include industry partners like Caterpillar, Toyota, Honda, Kia, Ford, and General Motors.

• Darden’s students are converting a former SWAT truck into a food truck, which the school’s culinary students will use to deliver food in the community.