[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12091]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                  HONORING THE WORK OF MICHAEL WERNER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SUZAN K. DelBENE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 15, 2014

  Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Michael Werner, who 
was recently selected as the first Innovative Teacher of the Year by 
the Center of Excellence for Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing for 
his extraordinary work at Granite Falls High School.
  Since Mr. Werner began teaching at Granite Falls in 2007, he has been 
a pioneer for its STEM education programs. In addition to the classes 
he teaches, Mr. Werner has created an excellent manufacturing program 
for his students from the ground up.
  Mr. Werner's teaching engages students by pushing them to apply 
materials learned in class to real-world projects and challenges. His 
dedication to preparing his students is important for the future of 
Washington state's skilled workforce and manufacturing industries. Mr. 
Werner plans on introducing similar hands-on technical education in 
elementary schools to encourage an interest for engineering in our 
youngest students.
  In 2009, Mr. Werner began the Eco Car program at Granite Falls High 
School. The program challenges students to design and build extremely 
fuel-efficient cars for the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas competition. As 
a strong advocate for female participation in the historically male-
dominated manufacturing and engineering fields, Mr. Werner has created 
an all-girls team, ShopGirls, to compete in the competition, as well as 
a coed team, UrbanAutos.
  I want to congratulate Michael Werner on his well-earned achievement, 
and I thank him for his commitment to building a better future for the 
students of Granite Falls High School.

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