Westside Middle School engineering and technology instructor Matt Bova recently won the Teacher Excellence Award, which is presented by the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association. Bova said he won the state equivalent to this award which automatically nominated him for the international award. 

“It’s called the Teacher Excellence Award for the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association,” Bova said. “Every year there are numerous awards that are handed out to different individuals from around the country for innovative practices that they are doing in their classroom.”

Bova has done a lot to keep the engineering and technology curriculum updated and wrote the starting curriculum for the class. 

“Updating our curriculum by implementing newer technologies, such as CNC routing [and] laser engraving [has helped our class],” said Bova. 

Bova said he is very grateful for receiving the award as well as the recognition. 

“It was pretty encouraging because all teachers put in a lot of time and effort,” Bova said. “It’s nice to be recognized for the extra time you put in for helping your students succeed.”

Westside High School engineering and technology instructor David Shabram previously worked with Bova at the middle school for around  six years years and assembled the engineering curriculum together. Bova said he felt lucky to have worked with Shabram. 

“I was fortunate that I also had a pretty good partner in crime, Mr. Shabram, who is up at the high school now,” Bova said. “Just working with him, we were able to put together a very strong curriculum here.”

Shabram said he is very happy for Bova and believes he fully deserved this award. 

“I am really excited for him,” Shabram said. “He has put in a lot of work to get where he is now. All that work has paid off. I have worked with him for five or six years and so working with him over that time, I have really seen his growth.”