Engineering teacher Mr. Creen, who teaches a variety of Project Lead the Way (PLTW) courses, loves to spread his passion of engineering to his kids- biological and his students. 

“That’s all engineering is, is figuring out why things work,” Creen said.  

As for his passion of engineering, he has had 25 years of experience as a machinist. He started out when he was just 15 years old, and has carried that out until now with 13 years of teaching. Creen also spent two years as a pilot and now is taking on a little bit of sailing as well. It’s no wonder he’s so good at passing down what he loves, to his own kids.

“I love spending time with my children and teaching them STEM,” Creen said. 

While Creen has three children, his family goes beyond that. 

“My students are my kids; my extended kids,” he said. 

It didn’t come as a surprise when Creen told his students about the catapult that Zoe (aka Z), 9 years old at the time, built with him last year for a science fair project. He taught her how to use power tools and where to make cuts.

Yet he didn’t leave the experiment at home. He brought it to his engineering students to help construct and test it for their trajectory (flight path) lab. Later in the year, students even got to play “Knock over the Castle,” experimenting with the catapult and angle.

“I’m not a big fan of school, but this project made me love it even if it was only for a week,”  junior Jacob Benes said. “It was nice to just come together and make something.”     

Many students find engineering a class that they can connect with.     

“What I love about engineering and teaching engineering is helping students find a passion for it at a young age,” Mr. Peggs said, who is another PLTW teacher. “I am merely here, as an engineering teacher, to expose students to the possibility of this field being a career choice.”