David E. Yeary

Tell us why you became a teacher

It was something that came natural. It all started in 6th grade because I was ahead of my class, so my teacher sent me to 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade to tutor, and would you know, I had a knack for it. The youngsters took to my tutoring very well and at such a young age, it gave me boost to help others. My teacher then sent me to special Ed to tutor and they kept me the rest of the year. The students were more difficult to work with, but still learned from me. After that I continued to tutor.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I was a computer science student in college and I was given a job on campus working with students that had disabilities. Mostly vision problems. The engineer in me helped develop larger fonts and convex glass to put in front of screens in a computing word before Windows, GUIs or Fonts. It was rewarding to help fellow college students be able to adapt and learn on devices that weren't originally designed for students with disabilities.

What would you do with the $25,000?

Take my wife to Hawaii and the grandkids too. Use what's left to develop new items for teaching in the classroom to help teachers and inspire youngsters. I'm not a kid anymore and my time is running out, but I always like to increase our students chances to learn and be productive and innovative.