Just five years after she graduated from college, Sandra Cavanaugh, of East Millsboro, Fayette County, is being honored as the top elementary technology education teacher in Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Cavanaugh, who teaches fifth- and sixth-graders in the Canon-McMillan School District, has won the Elementary School Teacher Excellence Award from The Technology Education Association of Pennsylvania.

It will be presented in November at the organization's 56th annual conference in Camp Hill.

"It's an extraordinary honor to be chosen," Mrs. Cavanaugh said.

The award is even more extraordinary because Mrs. Cavanaugh was, in the parlance of educators, a "nontraditional" student at college.

She was a stay-at-home mother of three. When she and her husband were on the verge of becoming empty nesters, her life took a turn.

"When our youngest son was looking at the tech education program at Cal State, I decided that's what I wanted to do," she said. "I was 42 when I enrolled in college."

She entered California University of Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor's degree in 2003 and a master's in 2005.

In fall 2003, she was hired as Canon-McMillan's first elementary technology teacher. Because she was the first person to hold the job, she said, she had a great deal of flexibility in creating the new program for fifth- and sixth-grade students in Cecil Intermediate School and North Strabane Intermediate School.

Another person serves as tech ed teacher for third- and fourth-grade students in Canon-McMillan's seven elementary schools.

Mrs. Cavanaugh credits district administrators for "giving the green flag to advance the program. Each year I have new experiences and a greater passion for this job. I teach a lot of problem-solving using the engineering design process. That's the foundation of technology. When students learn design, they can solve any problem in any class."

This year, fifth-graders will explore alternative energy, specifically electricity and wind energy. They'll use the district's wind turbine on the campus of North Strabane Intermediate School. They'll build their own windmills and build bridges to learn about construction and forces. In a new segment of the program, they'll have an introduction to robotics.

Sixth-graders will learn about magnetic levitation, or maglev, vehicles. They'll also learn about robotics, flight and solar power.

The heavy use of hands-on projects has generated a great deal of enthusiasm from students, Mrs. Cavanaugh said.

"At this age, girls are very interested in tech ed and there is no gender difference yet," she said, adding that when she went to college, not only were the other students decades younger, "I also found myself in a male-dominated field with young men who knew a lot more than I did about machinery. But they made me feel very welcome."

More girls are enrolling now in technology-related courses and at the university level, she said.

Mrs. Cavanaugh is working on a doctorate in curriculum and instruction at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She has completed the course work and is writing her dissertation.

In 2005, she was recognized as one of the nation's most innovative educators. She was one of 100 women who received a $2,000 award from the ING Unsung Heroes program.

The award was applied to the Robotics Alive program that she developed. Students in the program used logic, creativity and problem-solving skills while learning math, science and engineering concepts.