During February each year, the Martin County School District celebrates Career & Technical Education (CTE) month by highlighting the people and programs that make the many hands-on, industry-driven opportunities offered throughout the District meaningful for students.
During the Martin County School Board meeting held on February 21, 2023, Ms. Lana Barros, Coordinator of College & Career Readiness, presented the 2022-2023 CTE Teachers of the Year.
Congratulations to the following award winners:
- Laura Dervin, Photography Academy, Martin County High School
- Ms. Dervin is in her 6th year serving as the instructor of the Photography Academy at Martin County High School. Ms. Dervin trains students in the industry-recognized Adobe Certified Associate programs such as Photoshop, InDesign, and Lightroom. She most recently paired the technical content of being a masterful photographer with an Entrepreneurship and Small Business Certification. Last year, nearly 100 students were prepared to market, finance, and scale their own businesses in the Photography Academy. She has brought back the National Technical Society to MCHS, and just this year, Ms. Dervin chaptered students into SkillsUSA, so her students will have the opportunity to compete. Ms. Dervin is a Martin County High School alum. She pursued her passion for photography at the University of Central Florida and worked as a professional photographer for 10 years before she was recruited to come back to her alma mater.
- Laura Hubel, Communications Technology, South Fork High School
- Ms. Hubel has been teaching Communications Technology at South Fork High School since the 2021-2022 school year. Ms. Hubel comes to the District with a dynamic resume and varied occupational experiences, working at the University of Houston, the Houston Texans, Houston Dynamo and Dash, and the Houston Rodeo doing video production for game entertainment. Since arriving at SFHS, Ms. Hubel has revitalized the Design program at South Fork High School with high expectations, a commitment to excellence, and a deep belief in her students. She scaffolds production, project management and an entrepreneurial mindset into her lessons. Ms. Hubel builds quality relationships with the CTE team at SFHS and serves as the South Fork High School CTE Program Specialist. She is also the head coach for the eSports extracurricular team at SFHS and the yearbook sponsor.
- Jennifer Chandler, Health Science Academy, Jensen Beach High School
- Ms. Chandler is in her first year of teaching the Health Science Academy at Jensen Beach High School. Ms. Chandler started with the Martin County School District as a substitute teacher but was offered a full-time position as a health care teacher once it was discovered she is a registered nurse. In her time at JBHS, Ms. Chandler has identified industry standard updates needed at JBHS and has worked hard to create a laboratory space that prepares students for what they will experience in their clinicals at long-term care facilities and hospital rotations. Ms. Chandler came to us from Lawnwood, where she worked as a registered nurse for over 20 years. Ms. Chandler is also a Martin County High School alum and credits her experiences in the Automotive Academy as some of the most influential memories she had during her high school career.
- Stephanie Davis-Chang, Marketing with Entrepreneurship, Stuart Middle School
- Ms. Davis-Chang has been teaching Marketing with Entrepreneurship at Stuart Middle since the 2020-2021 school year. She came to the District from a thriving marketing career at Cleveland Clinic and was seeking an opportunity to give back to her community. Ms. Davis-Chang also started as a substitute teacher for the District and got hooked into teaching. Ms. Davis-Chang utilizes best practices and real-world applications in her classroom to engage students with their learning. She is always seeking opportunities to grow her capacity as an educator with new and innovative methods, programs, and hardware. She is our sole middle school teacher who jumped at the opportunity to be trained in the “Entrepreneurship Across the Curriculum” and has excelled in infusing that for her future Falcons. Since starting at Stuart Middle School three years ago, over 175 middle school digital tool certificates have been earned in her classes.