MIKE WELCH NAMED BTC TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Mike Welch has been named the teacher of the year at BTC. Mike joined the Burlington Technical Center in 1990 as a Building Trades instructor. He is a St. Michaels College graduate and a USAF veteran, having served in Vietnam as a B-52 navigator. He has been a youth baseball coach, a Habitat for Humanity Project Director and Board member, and a member of the Lake Placid Olympic Committee. His teaching incorporates current computer-aided design technology, close industry connections, and a lot of time in planning and evaluating student projects. His interests outside of BTC include reading, gardening, carpentry, home design and baseball.

Mike has worked tirelessly to help students reach their potential and expand their horizons. Over the past eight years Mike has developed two programs, Principles of Engineering, Architecture and Construction (PEAC) and Design-Build. Both programs incorporate Auto Cad into the curriculum. Mike started PEAC as a pilot program with the purchase of six units of Auto CAD LT for Windows 95. After the pilot proved to be a success Mike wrote a Tech Prep grant and received three years of funding for computers, annually upgraded Auto CAD software and training for teachers. In 1999 a consortium was formed with the Vermont Technical Centers and Vermont Technical College. The consortium purchases the ACES package that includes software in the design arena from Auto Desk Press and training for teachers. This package is now used by PEAC, Design-Build and Mechanical Engineering and Design Technology.

BTC is constantly updating programs to keep up with the fast paced changes in technology. Students are able to work with state of the art equipment and computers in every program. We are fortunate to have teachers like Mike who reinvent themselves and their programs in a rapidly changing world.