We are pleased to announce the semi-finalists for the 2017 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. These 54 semi-finalists comprised of public high school teachers and teacher teams hail from across the country. The judges who reviewed the first round of applications were overwhelmed with the level of interest and creativity.
Please see below for the semi-finalists who will advance to the next round of competition for one of 10 prizes—three first-place prizes of $100,000, with $70,000 going to the high school skilled trades program and $30,000 to the individual teacher/team, and seven second-place prizes of $30,000, with $20,000 to the high school program and $10,000 to the teacher/team.
Roxanne Amiot
Bullard Havens THS, CT
Thomas Aubin
CEWW BOCES, NY
Bobby Bard
Franklin County Career and Tech Center, PA
Jim Barnett
South Garland High School, TX
Stephen Beattie
West Milford Township High School, NJ
Ryan Beckley
East Syracuse Minoa Central High School, NY
Adam Bourne
The NET Charter School, LA
Louis Bramante
Vineland Senior High School, NJ
Rick Burton
Greene County Career Center, OH
Jeff Canterbury
Washington County Career Center, OH
Michael Castleberry
Locklin Technical High School, FL
Jeff Cesari
Bucks County Technical High School, PA
Brian Collier and Tristan Kumor
Ridgewood High School, IL
Scott Combs
Eastern Monroe Career Center, NY
Robin Coyne
Monterey High School, CA
Travis Crate
Venango Technology Center, PA
Wes Crawford and Josh Gary
Sutherlin High School, OR
Brad DeMent
Delaware Career Center, OH
Jerry Eaton
Meek Professional Technical High School, OR
Matt Erbach
Streamwood High School, IL
Michael Fleming
Monte Vista High School, CA
Kory Fontes
Nipomo High School, CA
Ken Gandy, Ed Hensley, and Gary Pommier
Olathe Advanced Technical Center, KS
Daniel Gersbach and Daniel Bradley
Finger Lakes Technical and Career Center, NY
Lukas Gill
Holland Central Schools, NY
Robert Harris
Jordan Vocational High School, GA
Ed Hughes
Sheboygan Falls High School, WI
Bob Kilmer
Enumclaw High School, WA
Brian Kurszewski
New London High School, WI
Andrew Lamer
Mingus Union High School, AZ
Brendan Malone
Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, NY
Brian Marvin
Northwestern Alaska Career and Technical Center, AK
Joel Massarello
Oakland Schools Technical Campus Northwest, MI
Scott Mayotte
Concord Regional Technical Center, NH
Jeff Merker
Sheldon High School, CA
Anthony Migliorini
Northview High School, IN
Don Murrell
Garden City High School, KS
Timothy Regan and Mark Levy
Bergen County Technical Schools, NJ
Bryan Ringsted
Campbell Union High School, CA
Amancio Rodriguez
Jonny G. Economedes High School, TX
Tom Rose
Bagdad High School, AZ
Steve Schertz
South Elgin High School, IL
Jonathan Schwartz
Colfax High School, CA
Ronald Skaggs and Justin Martzke
Norte Vista High School, CA
Cole Smith and Bill Hartman
Rancho Cotate High School, CA
Brian Sneed
Cordova High School, TN
Gregory Stephanos
Leominster High School Center for Technical Education, MA
Patrick Wadsworth and Gerald Huffman
Gulfport High School, MS
George Wertz
Deming High School, NM
Robert David White
Parkside High School, MD
Galen Wilson, RJ Horacek, and Krysten Renihan
Westfield Technical Academy, MA
Randy Williamson
Williamsport Area High School, PA
Joseph Wolfe
Thomas Edison High School, VA
Keith Yow
Cedar Ridge High School, NC
We will announce the finalists on Oct. 10 and the winners on Oct. 26.