HOT SPRINGS — Hot Springs native Mike Vincent did not intend to become a teacher, but once he did, he became passionate about educating young students, always urging them to think outside the box.
That type of thinking was already evident in the students he mentored as a facilitator of the EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology Inc.) initiative in several schools, the most recent being Hot Springs High School.
It was his work with the Hot Springs EAST program that led the Air Force Association of Arkansas to recognize Vincent, 34, for his work in, and outside, the classroom.
The Lewis E. Lyle Chapter of the Air Force Association of Arkansas in Hot Springs honored Vincent as its Teacher of the Year. Vincent was then named the co-recipient of the Arkansas State Air Force Association Teacher of the Year award, along with John Williams of Bryant High School.
“The Air Force Association recognizes outstanding teachers throughout the United States, especially those in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) areas,” said Larry C. Louden of Hot Springs, president of the local chapter and past president of the state organization.
According to the website afa.org, the Teacher of the Year awards are presented annually to the educator who has gone “the extra mile” to increase student interest in math, science and technology.
“It was pretty awesome to be recognized by the Air Force Association,” Vincent said. “It was a total surprise. Just to be recognized on the county level was cool, and then to make it to the state level, … that was just the icing on the cake.”
Vincent left the Hot Springs School District in October and is now a technical program adviser for public schools at the Arkansas Department of Education.
Gerald Hatley, ninth- and 10th-grade principal at Hot Springs High School, recommended Vincent for the award from the Air Force Association of Arkansas.
“His level of dedication extends beyond the walls of our school with the many community partners he has developed over the years,” Hatley wrote in part of his letter of recommendation. “These partnerships extend beyond the boundaries of our state and have helped garner recognition for our school and students. Mr. Vincent’s support of STEM education is shown throughout the many projects his students are involved in; he is creating tomorrow’s STEM leaders today.”
Among the EAST projects at Hot Springs High School were building a solar powered vehicle; building a 3-D printer; mapping and imaging underground tunnels unique to Hot Springs; building an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, in an effort to address some agriculture problems in the state; and studying the nationwide problem of hypoxia by traveling to Louisiana to film footage for a documentary about the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.
“I attended the EAST convention this past spring here in Hot Springs,” Louden said. “One of the displays that caught my attention was the Hot Springs High School EAST display that featured their working drone. When I found out Mike was nominated, I immediately noticed the article about the drone display at the convention and knew we had a great candidate for our Teacher of the Year.”
A native of Hot Springs, Vincent graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1999. He graduated from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in business education.
“I never really intended to be a teacher,” he said. “I wanted to go into computers.”
He worked for a while in the computer industry.
“I thought I had found my niche,” he said. But as that industry started to change, Vincent found himself looking for something else.
That “something else” led to teaching.
Vincent was the EAST facilitator at Hot Springs High School for four years. Prior to that, he was the EAST facilitator at Mountain Pine High School for four years. He also facilitated EAST programs in the Texarkana, Arkansas, and Fountain Lake school districts.
Vincent was the EAST facilitator at Hot Springs High School for four years. Prior to that, he was the EAST facilitator at Mountain Pine High School for four years. His first job as an EAST facilitator was at North Heights Junior High School in Texarkana, Arkansas. He did his teaching internship in the Fountain Lake School District.
“The Hot Springs School District has an EAST program at every level,” Vincent said. “A student can enter EAST in elementary school and exit EAST 12 years later with an EAST education.”
Vincent said some of his former EAST students “have gotten a full-ride” scholarship to attend the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The UALR EAST Scholarship is $10,000 per academic year. As part of the scholarship program, students volunteer in the university’s EAST Lab.
“One of my students is vice president of the EAST Club at UALR,” Vincent said. “EAST can change students’ lives.”
Vincent and his wife, Crystal, have two children — a daughter, Cadence, who is 8, and a son, Gavin, who is 4. Crystal, who works as a charge nurse weekends and nights at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, home-schools their children using a Christian curriculum.
“My daughter is a second-grader, and she is already working fourth-grade-level math,” Vincent said with a note of pride in his voice.
Vincent and his family attend Leonard Baptist Church in Hot Springs, where he teaches Sunday School.
He said he doesn’t have much extra time in his life right now to be involved in community activities.
“It’s all God and family,” he said.