The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) has selected Megan Tucker, dean of curriculum at Hillsboro Charter Academy in Hillsboro, Virginia, as the 2023 A. Scott Crossfield Educator of the Year.
The Crossfield Award, founded in 1986 by NAHF Enshrinee Scott Crossfield, recognizes a teacher for his or her exemplary use of aerospace in their classroom. Crossfield, who was inducted into the NAHF in 1983, was a renowned test pilot, research pilot, and aerospace researcher. His tests with pressurized suits led to the development of the space suit.
Tucker was nominated by Susan Mallett, Aerospace/STEM Education Outreach Coordinator for the Civil Air Patrol and the 1992 Crossfield Educator of the Year.
“Megan is one of those unique treasures who never stops thinking of ways to help others understand, feel valued, and seek to accomplish great things,” Mallett said. “She is the epitome of a teacher who Scott Crossfield was speaking of when he looked for teachers ‘who possessed those honorable attributes we expect from American teachers.’”
Tucker’s teaching career spans almost 20 years in elementary and middle schools in Florida, California, and Virginia, and include the development of science and space curricula and programs for her schools, students, and other educators, as well as for national organizations.
She was instrumental in building the curriculum at Hillsboro Charter Academy, where she has taught every kindergarten through fifth-grade student all aspects of STEAM, with an emphasis on aerospace, technology, and engineering. She has created a club called Girls in Gear (Guiding Engineering, Aerospace, and Robots) and implemented special programs for students as she collaborated with organizations such as NASA, Project Lead the Way, Girls Who Code, SeaPerch (underwater robotics), the Space Foundation, and CASIS (The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space – the ISS National Lab).
Tucker has earned multiple honors and awards for her work with students in science and engineering. These include being one of 20 selected internationally for the initial group of the Limitless Space Institute’s Educator Program in 2022, 2021 National AFA/Rolls Royce Aerospace/STEM Teacher of the Year, 2020 Virginia State Air & Space Forces Teacher of the Year, and the recipient of Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) Grant in 2020.
Tucker will receive the award Sept. 21, 2023, as part of the National Aviation Hall of Fame’s 59th Enshrinement events.