Albright named James Rumsey’s 2012 Teacher of the Year

The administrative staff at James Rumsey Technical Institute announces that Andrew S. Albright, welding instructor, has been named as the 2012 “James Rumsey Teacher of the Year” from a field of finalists including Cliff Arntz and Ron Odom.

All three finalists are themselves graduates of James Rumsey Technical Institute.

Albright, Arntz and Odom were honored in December at a special breakfast prepared by Chef David Propst and the Culinary Arts students.

Each winner was presented with a plaque and gift card from the school’s business partner, Frontier.

Albright completed the high school welding program in 1989. He returned to JRTI in 2001 as the welding instructor. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in CTE from WV Institute of Technology and recently completed his Master’s degree at Salem University in Educational Leadership.

He serves on the school’s leadership team and he believes in modeling expected behavior.

His personal philosophy of teaching is that education often takes place without the student even knowing it.

Ron Odom graduated from James Rumsey as a post secondary electronics student in 1989 and began his teaching career at JRTI as the Cisco instructor in 2009. He is currently working on his Bachelor’s Degree in CTE. As a member of the school’s leadership team, he has been instrumental in providing guidance for others at the school. He has presented at national conferences and helped implement James Rumsey’s technology plan.

The second finalist is Cliff Arntz. He joined the faculty in 2009 after graduating from the post secondary electrical program in 1988. Cliff is a Master Electrician and is also working on his Bachelor’s Degree in CTE. He is a member of the school’s professional development faculty senate committee.