2013 Teacher Excellence Award

Statements of Belief:

I believe that Technology & Engineering Education is a critical element in helping us become a more
technologically literate nation. Regardless of career choice, all people need the problem-solving and
critical thinking skills taught by the hands-on approach of T & E Education. Thus, T & E Education becomes a catalyst for an interdisciplinary approach to education. Concepts of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) along with social studies, language and the arts are applied to give meaningful, first-hand experiences to students.  I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. I teach and I know I know forever.

Dan Lemieux is the 2013 recipient of the Teacher Excellence Award as given by the Technology
& Engineering Educators Association of Maine (T.E.E.A.M.) and the International Technology &
Engineering Educators Association (I.T.E.E.A.). Dan has been a career Technology & Engineering
Teacher at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay, Maine, since graduating from USM in 1983. He
followed with a Masters in Science degree from UMO in 1994 and has applied his education to his
daily school activities by creating a dynamic T & E program for grades 9 through 12 students from Jay,
Livermore and Livermore Falls. As a self-described “over-achiever,” Dan is not only the department
head of the T & E program, but he serves many roles in the school, most notably as the Student Council Advisor, the Cross-Country Coach, and the MLTI Leader/Teacher, to name a few. Further, Dan
has expanded the realm of T & E Education to involve the commercial and industrial communities
in several engineering challenges, including the US FIRST Robotics, Vex Robotics and the Maine
Windblade challenges. Mr. Lemieux and his students have proven themselves worthy as they have
earned numerous regional and state titles, and even participated in the Vex World Championships.
Dan is a resourceful teacher as well, as he and his students have written and received many grants
while also generating revenue for their robotics projects by operating their own fundraisers and
by establishing partnerships with many local and area businesses and industries. Thanks to Dan's
boundless energy, students in his classes have remarkable opportunities available to them to learn about Computer-Aided Drafting, Architectural Design & Building Construction, Automotives, Metals and Woods Technologies and Robotics.

The TEEAM is proud to have Dan represent its organization and the State of Maine at the upcoming
conferences of the TEEAM in March, The ITEEA also in March and at the New England Association
of Technology Educators in the Fall of 2013.