A Central Lyon Industrial Technology teacher is one of two Iowa educators to receive a teaching prize of $75,000 from a national tool company.
Grant Engel was surprised in an assembly at the school Tuesday as a Harbor Freight tool box was rolled out that had a check for the award. Engel spoke after the announcement, saying it was a little overwhelming to be selected for the Harbor Freight award. “I’m thankful for everyone that has always helped me along the way and I feel like this is an award not just for me it’s an award for everyone that’s been a part of my teaching career from the Central Lyon staff to professionals in the industry that have reached out that helped guide me in the direction that my program has ended up,” Engel says.
Engel teaches classes in things like the construction trades, wood and metal shop. Engel will receive $25,000 and the school will get $50,000 of the prize. Engel says he”ll talk with the staff about how to use the school’s $50,000. He is interested in getting a heavy equipment simulator to help kids looking to get a CDL to be able to operate heavy equipment, excavators and other machinery.
“I can’t buy a bunch of that equipment. It costs too much money. So how can we get those kids opportunities? Like we get opportunities for carpenters, HVAC, plumbing. How can we give opportunities to that group of kids,” he says. Engel has partnered with a local company to develop a residential wiring course for kids. He joined the school in 2015 and has expanded the program from 14 students to 80, and started the tradition of students building a tiny house. That continued for a while, and now for the last several years, they’ve been building full-sized houses in Rock Rapids.
The other Iowa teacher to win the prize is Chad Donahue, who teaches welding at Des Moines Public Schools Central Campus. There were 25 of the prizes awarded nationwide.
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