TUCSON, Ariz. — This spring University of Arizona Athletics is continuing their tradition, honoring a local grade school teacher as their teacher of the year. With nine nominees, KGUN 9 is spotlighting each one.
Justin Villard is the engineering instructor at Andrada Polytechnic High School in Vail. His three year program is a little different than your typical classroom experience.
"I love the freedom, I love the creativity, I love the projects," Villard explained. "You know, I love the idea that my class runs its best when I'm not really doing much."
His classes are project based. On the particular day we stopped by, students were building part of a bridge and testing out how much weight it could hold.
"It's amazing when you give kids very open-ended type tasks, like there's criteria and constraints they have to fit within, but when they're allowed to tackle those any way they want and be as creative as they want, that's when you see the best of kids," Villard said.
Throughout the program he teaches, students can earn three different engineering certifications. Their senior year, the program is dual enrollment, so they get college credit through the University of Arizona. Villard also focuses on teaching students the skills and tools they need to apply for jobs, like building a resume.
More importantly though, Villard's classes are a safe space for kids to try.
"In my class," he explained, "we teach to embrace the idea of failing, where we say, 'failing stands for your first attempt in learning.'"
Junior, Caden Rubino says it's that approach that made him fall in love with engineering, which he now plans to pursue as a career.
"Honestly, if it were any other teacher than him, I probably wouldn't still be in the program," he said.
It's all part of Mr. Villard's efforts, setting students up to succeed one by one.
"All I do is create the opportunity, and then the kids take it from there," Villard said.
The U of A will announce the teacher of the year at one of their home games in the spring.
