Cypress College Career Technical Education Receives Two Awards
Automotive Technology instructor Russell Bacarella and student Gable Kemma-Berg received the Instructor Finalist Award and a Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Scholarship, respectively, last month at the 2019 SEMA Education Event in Las Vegas.
The three-day event, part of the annual SEMA show and organized by SEMA and the North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT), saw approximately 2,000 students and instructors from across the United States and Canada.
Bacarella, a master Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified technician who has been teaching since 1999, received his award at the Educator of the Year Awards banquet. With approximately 200 instructors in attendance, Bacarella and two instructors from across North America received the honor for fostering the professional development of promising new students. The award is open to anyone who teaches automotive-related instruction including auto tech, diesel and collision, and recognizes instructors who implement and emphasize aftermarket technology in their classrooms.
Additionally, Cypress student Kemma-Berg received a $3,000 SEMA Student Scholarship, created to introduce and encourage students studying automotive, diesel or collision to pursue careers in the automotive aftermarket industry.
As the largest automotive organization in the world, SEMA has roughly 21,000 corporate members. The annual SEMA Show hosts over 200,000 annually during the four-day event in Las Vegas.
