![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Nancy-Parra-Quinlan-headshot.jpg\")
AFA\u2019s Teacher of the Year award is an annual recognition of\nexceptional teachers who are invigorating their students\u2019 passion and promoting\ninnovative STEM education. The award is sponsored by Rolls-Royce North America\nDefense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur Teacher of the Year program not only serves to\nrecognize the education talent we have in the U.S., but also to acknowledge the\nimportance of educators in our society,\u201d said Stephen Gourley, AFA Vice\nChairman of the Board for Aerospace Education. \u201c\u2019Mrs P-Q\u2019 rightfully joins a\nlong list of exceptional teachers. We are proud know her and provide this\nwell-deserved recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parra-Quinlan is a 7th and 8th grade science, STEM, and\nCareer and Technical Education (CTE) teacher at Kino Junior High, a Title I\nschool in an economically disadvantaged area of Mesa. Since offering the\nschool\u2019s first STEM class in 2011, she has grown the program to include\nelective courses on robotic programming, 3D modeling and design, DNA\ncomparison, and aeronautic engineering. Parra-Quinlan is also the sponsor of\nKino Junior High\u2019s STEM club and has arranged for the club\u2019s members to visit\nthe U.S. Space and Rocket Center Space Academy in Huntsville, Ala., and Astro\nCamp in Idyllwild, Calif., during the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside of class time, Parra-Quinlan coaches the\n\u201cRoboKolts,\u201d Kino Junior High\u2019s after-school robotics team in the FIRST LEGO\nLeague. She also plans, markets, and runs the Aerospace Academy, a two-week\nsummer camp that gives students from around the Phoenix metropolitan area\nexposure to STEM careers through tours and guest speakers. Her campers have\nvisited Boeing\u2019s AH-64 Apache helicopter factory and a Southwest Airlines\nmaintenance hangar, and they have met air traffic controllers and other Federal\nAviation Administration staff at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parra-Quinlan is also a captain in the Civil Air Patrol and\nan Aerospace Education Officer. In these roles she helps cadets pursue their\naerospace career goals and supplies local teachers with resources to cultivate\nthriving STEM programs at their schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCongratulations to Nancy for this well-deserved recognition\nas AFA\u2019s National Teacher of the Year!\u201d said Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson (Ret.),\nSenior Vice President of Business Development at Rolls-Royce North America\nDefense. \u201c[We are] proud to support Nancy and the Air & Space Forces\nAssociation as we all work together to develop and support today\u2019s STEM\nstudents\u2014the science and technology specialists of tomorrow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AFA also congratulates Robbie Ferguson, the 2022 TOY award\nfirst runner-up. Ferguson, who was nominated by AFA\u2019s CO #127 Mile High\nChapter, teaches aerospace engineering and computer science to 9th-12th grade\nstudents at Westminister High School in Westminister, Colo. He has partnered\nwith organizations like NASA and the Spartan College of Aeronautics and\nTechnology to provide his students with the opportunity to earn college credits\nand industry certifications that will set them up early for future careers in\nSTEM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second runner-up winner of 2022\u2019s TOY award is Dr.\nMarina Mosneaguta, who was nominated by AFA\u2019s SC Swamp Fox Chapter 298. A math\nteacher and the STEM lead at Alice Drive Middle School in Sumter, S.C.,\nMosneaguta gives her students hands-on experience conducting scientific\nresearch through the Students Spaceflight Experiments Program. She also\norganizes virtual meetings between her students and STEM professionals,\nincluding aerospace engineers, astronauts, and even Vice Chief of Space\nOperations Gen. David D. Thompson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AFA proudly honors all of these teachers whose commitments,\nachievements, and contributions to STEM education are shaping America\u2019s youth\nand future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Air & Space Forces Association is proud to announce Nancy Parra-Quinlan of Kino Junior High School in Mesa, Ariz., as our 2022 Teacher of the Year (TOY). She was originally nominated for the award by AFA\u2019s AZ-151 Frank Luke Chapter. AFA\u2019s Teacher of the Year award is an annual recognition of exceptional teachers who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144,2,98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aerospace-education","category-arizona","category-aviation-education"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23236,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23234\/revisions\/23236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}