'I’m very humbled': BHS teacher recognized for statewide excellence in career prep
BRIGHTON — The new year brought good news for Brighton High School teacher and alum Brielle Haupt. The health occupations and pre-med science teacher was recognized this month as the 2024 MI ACTE New Career Tech Ed Teacher of the Year.
The award acknowledges exceptional teachers in CTE (Career and Technical Education). Haupt, specifically, was recognized for her role in the medical department at both Brighton High School and in Livingston County.
“The majority of (CTE teachers) have been in the industry, so we focus less on the core curriculum — we design classes that are career-focused,” Haupt said. “It encourages students to go into engineering, or the auto industry … and for me, specifically, medical fields.”
The award selection process began when Haupt’s career director decided to submit an application on her behalf to the Association for Career and Technology Education.
“I just talked about my program,” Haupt said. “I talked about the different leadership opportunities I give. We talked about the clinical aspect, when my kids go out and participate in job shadowing, and the advancement over the past couple of years."
Haupt was given the award at the Michigan Career Education Conference in Grand Rapids.
She's also being considered for national recognition for her role educating and guiding students interested in pursuing medicine or healthcare.
“I’m very honored to get the award, and I’m very humbled," she said. "It’s very nice to be nominated for something like this, but ultimately, I think it’s just a reflection of the staff I work with. I’ve had a lot of mentor teachers who have helped guide me and support me — and then truly, I give 98% of the credit to my students, because they’re the ones that make me enjoy teaching and coming to work every single day.”
Haupt worked as an ER nurse before becoming a nurse practitioner. She wasn't immediately certain about becoming a teacher.
“I had no formal education background, but I’ve always had a special place in my heart for high school students and teens,” Haupt said. “Just being able to interact with them and encourage them to pursue a career in healthcare, which has been so precious to me, has been the best of both worlds.”
She continues to work as a nurse practitioner part-time, but has spent the last four years teaching Brighton's health occupations class and, this year, developing a pre-med science class.
“Instead of spending time with me in my classroom, (students) go out and do shadowing opportunities," Haupt said.
Haupt also runs HOSA, a healthcare-oriented competition
In HOSA students apply their medical knowledge and leadership skills to real-life situations.
“It’s very similar to DECA, and allows them to compete, earn scholarships, and things like that,” Haupt said. “I had 40 kids participate in the beginning of December, and I have 20 advancing to states in April in Traverse City.”
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CTE courses, she said, can help students decide where they want to invest their time and money in the future.
“If a kid is trying to make a decision on whether or not they want to go to college or maybe what career [they want to pursue], I think early exposure in high school, where they’re not paying a ton in tuition money, they’re not wasting time taking collegiate classes that maybe aren’t going to align with what their career values are … I think the more exposure that we can give them at this level, the better chance of success we’re setting them up for in the future."
— Ari Hickman is a sophomore at Brighton High School and a freelancer for The Livingston Daily. Contact the newsroom at newsroom@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: BHS teacher recognized for statewide excellence in career prep
