STEM educator Daniel Pilchman combines academic and technical knowledge to teach students how to create things with their hands, such as making electric guitars.
A student in Cal State Fullerton’s online master’s program in transformative teaching in secondary education, Pilchman teaches manufacturing and product design at Woodbridge High School in Irvine.
As a career technical education teacher, Pilchman’s instructional methods emphasize project-based learning, community engagement and preparation for life after graduation.
Al Rabanera, who earned a master’s degree in education-secondary education from CSUF in 2007, is a math teacher and educational leader at La Vista High School, an alternative school in Fullerton.
Rabanera teaches algebra to help students connect mathematical concepts to real-world experiences.
For their ability to engage, motivate and inspire young learners in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Pilchman and Rabanera have been recognized with 2025 Outstanding STEM Educator Awards from the Orange County Department of Education. The awards were presented in partnership with Cox Communications and UC Irvine.
The teachers were selected for their dedication to fostering curiosity, persistence and critical thinking through inquiry-based STEM learning opportunities. Pilchman is the recipient of the Outstanding Career Awareness Educator Award and Rabanera received the Outstanding K-12 STEM Educator Award.
“This honor is the result of career technical education teachers, site administrators and Irvine Unified School District staff collaborating to create our manufacturing program,” said Pilchman, who completed CSUF’s credential program to teach high school science and holds a doctorate in philosophy from UC Irvine.
“This is an opportunity to bring attention to the importance of college and career readiness education and to the value that community engagement can bring to schools.”
For Rabanera, receiving the recognition affirms the work he’s done during his 22-year teaching career to “humanize STEM education.”
“Many students arrive carrying years of messages that they’re ‘not math people.’ My goal has always been to change that narrative by creating learning experiences that center on dignity, belonging and high expectations,” Rabanera said.
“STEM education is about helping students see themselves as capable problem-solvers, creative thinkers and contributors to their communities.”
For Rabanera, who holds a doctorate in education-educational leadership from USC, teaching math at a continuation school is about more than equations.
“It’s about rebuilding confidence, restoring belonging, and helping students see that they already have what it takes to succeed,” he said.
Rabanera, Fullerton Joint Union High School District’s 2014 Teacher of the Year and the College of Education’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni of the Year, is chair of his school’s math department. He leads the design of programs that integrate life skills and academic and career learning.
“My instructional approach blends rigorous math, identity development and social-emotional learning. I want every student to see themselves as a capable doer and thinker of STEM,” said Rabanera, who completed CSUF’s foundational level math and preliminary administrative credential programs.
Pilchman, the district’s 2024 Teacher of the Year, is the founder of his school’s makerspace program and serves as the adviser to the SkillsUSA and Society for Women Engineers student clubs.
His flagship project focuses on teaching students how to construct functional electric guitars. Students learn about woodworking, electromagnetic induction, spray painting and complex assembly.
Pilchman said preparing students with these skills for careers in technical and manufacturing fields is vital to building a pipeline for the future workforce.
“STEM industry partners consistently tell me that what they’re looking for in entry-level employees are workplace skills like autonomy, self-motivation and professionalism,” Pilchman said.
“They hire students who know how to use tools or who have worked with their hands — skills and experiences that they get from career technical education.”