It’s a few minutes past noon on a Tuesday and Instructional Technology (ITS) Specialist David Pugh is leaning back in his seat in the IT office. Upon entering the crammed office space, his contagiously welcoming demeanor welcomes those who come to the door.

Sitting opposite him in the small room is English teacher Mrs. Devlin who is experimenting with some new software. Devlin jokes that Pugh is hard at work mentoring her.

Pugh was chosen as the 2017 Teacher of the Year, and with good reason. When he first came to the school, he spent seven or eight years as what was previously called the Computer Resource staff. However, when a new superintendent brought a new emphasis on instruction, Pugh’s job was essentially cut in half, although he did keep the instructional portion.

Now-a-days, he works with students, faculty, and staff, enabling them to use the latest software offered to the school system and challenging them to create unique classroom experiences. As an IT Specialist, one of his main responsibilities is actually to train teachers.

“It’s this whole idea of coaching, that you’re helping them [students] get to where they want to go in their teaching,” Pugh said.

One thing that continues to drive him through the changing times is his faith in the public school system.

“One of the nice things about living in southeastern Virginia is that there is a lot of support for the public school systems,” Pugh said. “Expectations are high when it comes to technology and its so important to keep up.”

He believes that the government should refrain from abandoning the system and leaving students to only attend private schools.

According to Pugh, one can’t count on profit in dollars and cents here; it’s about people.

His dedication to his work becomes obvious when he shares a bit of himself and his latest project.

“You ever use Garage Band?  I’ve been trying to get free background music for some of the training videos I’m making, and I’m not really happy with the choices, so I thought ‘You know what? I’ve never really sat down and used garage band so I think I’ll try it,’” Pugh said as he laughed out loud.