STEPS4GROWTH- With over 1,000 miles behind her, high school engineering teacher
Kaitlynn McClay drove all the way from Texas to North Carolina Agricultural and
Technical State University to explore the many pathways within the field of engineering.
McClay’s journey into engineering has come full circle. As a high school student, she
took engineering classes but ultimately realized her interests lay elsewhere. Once in
college, she enrolled in agricultural courses—and that’s where she found her passion.
After graduation, she knew she wanted to teach others everything she had learned
about agriculture.
“I was going through the process of getting my teaching certification when a high school
in the area reached out and said, ‘Hey, we’re looking for a teacher!’” McClay shared. “It
was October—mid-semester—and they asked me to come in for an interview.”
But during the interview, McClay quickly learned she wouldn’t be teaching soil testing or
irrigation systems.“They said, ‘This is robotics—do you have any experience in it?’ I told them, ‘Well, I took
it in high school.’ They were willing to hire an ag teacher to teach robotics. I took the job,
even though I didn’t know much about robots specifically. But I had a little background
from my high school engineering classes.”
That first year was a learning curve—for both her and her students.
“I like to joke that I was learning just one day ahead of them,” McClay said. “I’d write the
lesson, teach myself, and then teach it to the class the next day. I was learning at the
same pace they were—but it was fun. I started seeing a lot of passion from the kids.”
As her confidence grew, so did student interest. More and more students signed up to
learn about engineering and robotics. Inspired by their enthusiasm, McClay decided to
dive deeper into engineering—and that’s what led her to pack up her car and drive over
1,000 miles to attend the HAMMER Research Experience for Teachers at North
Carolina A&T.
“I’m really excited to take what I’ve learned back to my students,” she said. “Now I know
more about biomedical engineering—I’ve got one student in particular who’s really
interested in that. I’ve also learned about materials science and the different specialties
within robotics, like drones, aerospace, and metalworking.”
After six intensive weeks sharpening her skills on North Carolina A&T’s campus,
McClay is ready to make the 1,000-mile drive home—to empower her students to
become the next generation of engineers.
