The compliment is nothing new to Bergmann, winner of the 2004 Instructor of the Year contest sponsored by The News and ARI. The instructor, who has spent the last four years teaching students at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center (CVCC) in Brecksville, Ohio, has drawn rave reviews from school administrators and has appeared in several articles in The News. He was a runner-up in the contest two years ago.
Bergmann credits the success of his program to the hard work of his advisory committee and his students. "I have a very active advisory committee," he said. "They come in here and help me develop the lab, obtain supplies and training materials, etc. I'm not the only one who should get this award - it should include the advisory committee. No one person can build a program like this on his or her own.
"Our goal is to get a good working model in our lab. The students, not contractors, set all of the equipment up. I invite contractors to come in for visits and have them watch the students work on the equipment, and I encourage them to ask students about the parts and what the function of each part is. The contractor gets an idea of where the kid is, and how he handles himself."