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Robotics students welcome new teachers at New Lions training!
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New Director, Mark Johnston.
Mr. Johnston's educational and professional background is varied and diverse. Growing up, he did a variation of public school, home study, and community college courses. After high school, he worked in a corporate training department. Shortly after September 11th, 2001, he enlisted in the Air Force. When his military service was over, he went back into the business world as a stock broker and continued his undergraduate degree. He graduated summa cum laude from Howard Payne University in 2013.
Mr. Johnston has experience teaching 10th-12th Grade Engineering and Robotics classes, 8th Grade Math, 8th Grade Science, 7th Grade Science, and 6th/7th Grade Gateway to Technology. He has received professional training from Project Lead The Way (PLTW) for Automation and Robotics, Design and Modeling, Medical Detectives, and Green Architecture. He also worked as a PLTW Master Teacher for a summer, training other teachers.
For competitive Robotics, Mr. Johnston is an RECF Event Partner and has hosted various Robotics events over the last few years. He started a VEX IQ team at a middle school where he previously worked. The new team won their Regional Excellence Award and then competed in the VEX Worlds Championship competition in Louisville, KY. The following year, the same team qualified for Worlds again! He then went on to teach at a High School and led their VEX team to become the Regional Skills Champion that went on to compete at the VEX World Championship in Dallas, TX.
Mr. Johnston, his wife, and three children moved from El Paso, TX, and purchased a house in Greenville. He said, "we are excited about the move. It is important to us that we live in Greenville because we want to be a part of the community." He started in his new role as Director of Robotics for GISD on July 1, 2022.
You can email him at johnstonm@greenvilleisd.com, for any questions about GISD Robotics programs.
