Two Cal State Fullerton alumni, Al Rabanera and Daniel Pilchman, received Outstanding STEM Educator Awards from the Orange County Department of Education last November for their efforts to make science, technology, engineering and math classes accessible for high school students who otherwise might not feel capable of participating in those studies.
Both educators hope their awards will shine a light on the importance of ensuring that all students feel welcome and supported in STEM studies.
“This recognition affirms that when we center students’ humanity, hold high expectations and truly believe in them, STEM spaces become places of possibility rather than exclusion,” said Rabanera, who won the award for Outstanding K-12 STEM Educator for his work at La Vista High School, an alternative school in Fullerton, where he has worked for 22 years.
Though the award recognizes his achievements as an educator, Rabanera said his work is hardly done. “It represents a journey from feeling unseen in educational spaces to being recognized for work grounded in equity and hope,” he said. “I see this award not as a finish line, but as encouragement to keep pushing for systems that truly serve all students.”
Rabanera received his master’s degree in education from Cal State Fullerton and his doctorate in educational leadership at UC Irvine.
La Vista is a continuation high school; its students are at least 16 years old and are at risk of not graduating or are part of La Vista’s Teenage Pregnant and Parenting Program. Rabanera said many students “arrive carrying years of messages that they are not math people. My work has always focused on changing that narrative by creating learning experiences rooted in dignity, belonging and high expectations.” He’s helped integrate student identities into STEM instruction to help students feel comfortable in STEM classes.
Pilchman, who received the award for Outstanding Career Awareness Educator, teaches Career Technical Education at Woodbridge High School in Irvine. He obtained his teaching credentials from Cal State Fullerton and a doctorate in philosophy from UC Irvine. He’s currently working toward a master’s degree at CSUF in a program called transformative teaching, which focuses on diversity, equity, social justice and culturally sustaining practices.
His career technical education program is a reinvention of what used to be called “shop” at Woodbridge High School. “Shop classes were a beloved part of school for a long time and then sort of fell off — there was less funding and less interest at high schools,” Pilchman said. “Now there’s a lot of interest in revitalizing those programs. Technology has changed a lot — there’s a lot of space for reimagining the way that we teach skills and handcrafting.”
He works to make sure all students “feel comfortable, safe and welcome” in this program, which led him to return to Cal State Fullerton. “Diversity work and equity work is something that I’ve always been really passionate about. This is a chance for me to see the research in terms of shop education or manufacturing, skilled education and equity. How do we make it so that it benefits everybody?”
In Pilchman’s classes, students learn 3D printing and make small lamps, which involve computer design and basic circuits. More advanced students learn engineering skills in making specialty props and costumes for the school’s theater productions — all of which can translate into technical careers.
“We get to use the machines to make toys or other fun stuff, but these are the same materials that they’re going to go on and use in aerospace or biotech,” Pilchman said.
He hopes his award highlights that “there’s really important work to be done in making sure that career education is accessible so that all of our students feel like they can be involved in it.”
It’s important to “make sure that this is something that our students with special needs and our English learners are able to access,” Pilchman said. “Those are students for whom the college track is going to be a particular challenge.”
He credits the College, Career, and Life Readiness team at the Irvine Unified School District office, the Gene Haas Foundation and the Irvine Public Schools Foundation for their support and work in this area.
Rabanera said that through partnerships with the Fullerton Museum Center, Fullerton Library, the Muckenthaler Cultural Center and others, he’s able to bring industry professionals and higher education partners to speak with La Vista high schoolers.
“For many of our students, these partnerships provide the first time they see someone who looks like them or comes from a similar background working in a STEM field,” Rabanera said. “Representation matters. For many of my students, meeting someone who looks like them in a STEM field is the first time they can imagine themselves there. Partnerships also allow us to provide mentorship, hands-on experiences and resources that schools alone often cannot offer.”