Kathy Hankins and Jason Rehg
Collinsville Area Vocational Center instructor, Kahy Hankins was selected CUSD 10 Staff Member of the Month for November 2018.
Hankins was surprised with the announcement on November 13, 2018 by CAVC Director Dr. Tricia Blackard and Jason Rehg of Edward Jones. Rehg is the sponsor of the monthly award in Collinsville Community Unit School District #10.
Ms. Hankins teaches Introduction to Electronics, Introduction to Robotics, Robotics, CP Vocational Electronics 1, CP Vocational Electronics 2 and occasionally a math class or two.
She has been an educator for 17 years. Hankins started her career as an electrical engineer and after some personal reflection, decided to follow her true passion and became a teacher.
Dr. Blackard nominated her for this award for being “caring, kind, thoughtful, compassionate, intelligent and dedicated to her students.”
“Ms. Hankins is a truly dedicated teacher who puts her heart and soul into everything she does. She is passionate about her content areas and that passion is contagious. Every year she deals with some of our most challenging students, and by the end of the year has become not only a respected teacher, but also a mentor and friend,” said Dr. Blackard.
“As a female in a predominantly male dominated field, Ms. Hankins has earned the respect of colleagues, administrators, and students. After being hired to teach math and later Electronics, Ms. Hankins discovered a need to update the course offerings by adding Intro to Robotics,” added Blackard.
“The enrollment in this course has skyrocketed over the years which led her to propose a follow up course at the request of students. In this math heavy field, Ms. Hankins has been able to not only teach, but to bring understanding and application to very complex math related concepts. Even students who state they are terrible at math grow to appreciate and master this curriculum.”
“In addition to her instruction, Ms. Hankins has taken on many additional responsibilities which contribute to the positive climate in the school. Over the years she has sponsored multiple clubs and activities such as Christians in Action, the Robotics Club and most recently, a Table Tennis Club. She can always be counted on to go the extra mile for her students both in and out of the classroom. It is very common to see ten or more students in her room during their study hall as well as after school.”
“Ms. Hankins has done an outstanding job of bringing in guest speakers, aligning field trips, participating in SkillsUSA, etc. Through her efforts, the IBEW has become an on-going supporter of CAVC through presentations and assistance with training. She has had a parent that is an electrician come in and help the kids learn how to bend conduit. She even takes her classes to a power plant so they can expand their knowledge. Last year she had five students who qualified through a written test compete in the hands-on portion at SkillsUSA and two who earned 9th and 14th place in the state respectively.”