Campus News

Girard Chosen for Excellence in Teaching Award

12/20/17

The Minnesota State Board of Trustees will honor a faculty member with the Award for Excellence in Teaching. This honor acknowledges and rewards exceptional individual professional accomplishment and encourages ongoing excellence in teaching.

Minnesota West Community & Technical College has recently undergone an extensive process (using input from faculty and students from each campus) to identify candidates to serve as the Minnesota West nominee for the Award for Excellence in Teaching. Peter Girard, Diesel Technology instructor on the Minnesota West Canby campus, has been chosen to represent Minnesota West for the Statewide Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Girard will now compete with approximately 40 other nominees from fellow Minnesota State institutions from across the state. Nominations were based on criteria such as innovative classroom delivery and/or programming, cooperation and partnerships within and outside of the college, campus involvement/leadership, and community involvement/leadership.

“Peter truly is an asset to our students and college. He has a genuine excitement for teaching and a strong drive for his students to be successful in their careers. Students in his classroom experience real life scenarios and are able to troubleshoot problems knowing that Peter will be there to guide them in their learning journey,” comments Paul Lanoue, Dean of Agriculture and Business.

Honorable mention to the other Minnesota West Community & Technical College instructors who were also nominated for the award:
Jay Vargas - Social Sciences
Alan O’Neil - Humanities
Judy Drown - Trades
Leslie Bauman - Business/Computers/Management
Marissa Marten - Allied Health
Michael Wesselink - Math and Sciences