The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) has announced that Mark Westlake STEAM Specialist and Director of the St. Thomas Academy Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, has been selected as the NAHF\u2019s 2024 A. Scott Crossfield Educator of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Crossfield Award, founded in 1986 by NAHF Enshrinee\nScott Crossfield, is a juried annual competition to recognize a teacher for his\nor her exemplary use of aerospace in their classroom curricula. Crossfield, who\nwas inducted into the NAHF in 1983, was a renowned test pilot, research pilot,\nand aerospace researcher. His tests with pressurized suits led to the\ndevelopment of the space suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The successful nomination was made by Ms. Caroline Little,\nMiddle School Science Teacher and 2021 Crossfield Educator of the Year. In her\nnomination, Little said, “Mark’s infectious love of engineering and drive\nto bring ‘real world’ STEM into the classroom and lives of every student he\nencounters was a key factor in opening the Saint Thomas Academy Innovation\nCenter. This nationally renowned engineering space is so much more than a set\nof 3D printers, laser cutters, and 3-axis mills. It is a place where innovation\ncomes alive; where drones whiz past as students design aerodynamic pieces for\ntheir NASA rover, where engineering students work on designs for a washing\nmachine for the International Space Station, and where life science students\nare 3D printing cells.” She goes on to say, “It is because of\nteachers like Mark Westlake that students and teachers alike look towards the\nheavens with the same sense of awe and wonder that launched the first mission\nto the moon.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Westlake also serves as Moderator of the Saint Thomas\nAcademy Experimental Vehicle Team, is a Lemelson-MIT Invention Education\nFellow, and is a Notre Dame Trustey Senior STEM Fellow, coaches a drone racing\nteam and fosters the inventive spirit in teachers and students all over the\nUnited States. His teaching career spans over 30 years, and his passion for\nscience and engineering can be seen in the projects and contests he makes\navailable to students and teachers. Classroom activities include NASA HUNCH (High\nSchools United with NASA Creating Hardware), STEM Day for 3rd-5th graders, NASA\nWEAR (Wearable Equipment to Avert Radiation), and the only high school selected\nto participate in NASA SOAR where students designed, fabricated, and tested an\ninstrument that measured vibration and atmospheric conditions in the\nunpressurized payload area of a WB-57 High AltitudePlane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Westlake has earned multiple honors and awards for his work\nwith science and engineering students, including Disney Magic Maker Teacher of\nthe Year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Master Teacher, and National\nSTEM Teacher of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On receiving the award, Mr. Westlake said \u201cThe list of\nprevious A. Scott Crossfield Aerospace Educator of the Year teachers is so\nimpressive! I am humbled to be included among the likes of Susan Mallett,\nCaroline Little, Megan Good Tucker and Jill Weaver! Any success that I have\nexperienced is directly related to my amazing students, who are always willing\nto take on a new project without any fear of failure. Watching them solve\nproblems and learn new skills gives me tremendous hope for our technological future!\nThank you for continuing to support educators and their students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Westlake will receive the award on September 13, 2024, at\nthe President’s Reception as part of the National Aviation Hall of Fame\u2019s 60th\nEnshrinement events. Over 600 people are expected to attend two days of events\nin Dayton, OH. that feature the formal installment of the NAHF Enshrinee Class\nof 2024; pioneers Peggy Chabrian, and (the late) Joe Sutter, visionaries (the\nlate) Gary Burrell, Min Kao and (the late) Don Bateman, and aerospace heroes\nFrederick Gregory and Katherine Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n