Teacher of the Year

2022-2023 Teacher of the Year

Justin Bennett

Automotive Technology

Justin Bennett joined the CATS staff in 2014.   Justin is a former student of ISS, graduating from North Iredell. He is a previous student of the automotive program when it was still located at Statesville High School.  He is a graduate of Central Piedmont Community College with a degree in Automotive Systems Technology.  Justin worked at a Chevrolet/Cadillac dealership for 12 years before deciding to become a teacher.  He started his teaching career at Forsyth Technical Community College where he helped launch the Toyota T-Ten program.

Currently he is the department chairman and teacher for the automotive program at CATS.  He also teaches the North Carolina safety and emissions technician classes for the NCDMV.  These classes are taught through Mitchell Community College at CATS.

In his “free time” he works on cars and enjoys the outdoors.  Justin is very involved with the Boy Scouts and serves as chairman and treasure for Troop 363.  He took the troop to their very first high adventure camp to a remote island in the Florida Keys in the summer of 2021.

His message for students:

Never be afraid to try.  You will not always be successful on your first try.  Thomas Edison said the following quote when talking about his invention of the electric lightbulb: 

"I have not failed 10,000 times - I've successfully found 10,000 ways that it will not work" ~Thomas Edison

2022-2023 Teacher Assistant of the Year

Lora Bassey

EC Teacher Assistant (VATS)

 

Lora Bassey joined our team here at CATS in the 2015-2016 school year as a teacher assistant/bus driver. She works with the Occupational Course of Study students overseeing the PAES Lab. Her goal is to help the OCS students learn job skills so they can obtain employment after graduation.

Lora is a native to the Iredell-Statesville School system. She graduated from West Iredell High School. She began working for the school system in 1998. She has been working as a highly qualified teacher assistant/bus driver for the past 24 years.  In addition, she received recognition as the I-SS District EC Teacher Assistant of the Year in 2019-2020 school year.

In her free-time she enjoys spending time with her family. She has a wonderful husband and one son. They enjoy outdoor activities, such as, camping, kayaking and four wheeling.