I believe everyone has that one teacher that they will remember forever; for me that is Master Sergeant Kevin Howie. MSgt is a Naval Science Instructor (NSI) at the Delaware Military Academy. He enlisted into the United States Marine Corp when he graduated high school, and he served in many places in many different jobs, ranging from water purification to reconnaissance. He now works to educate the next generation of leaders as an NSI at DMA. We often hear other NSIs calling him "Top", but we know better; we do push ups if we call him that. In my opinion, there is no finer example of a Marine than MSgt. Howie.

MSgt has a certain philosophy that was most likely installed into him by the Marines. On our first PT (Physical Training) day, he told us that he didn't care if we could do fifteen push ups or one hundred, as long as we didn't give up, and pushed ourselves to do our absolute best, and for him that applies in every situation. He is definitely, a motivator, and he always pushes the cadets under him to be the absolute best.

Most of the time when you meet a Marine, they'll most likely tell you that all the other branches are full of wimps, but not MSgt. For those of us that want to serve the nation in the military, he went into great detail on what every branch is about. We spent a full class on every branch, and saw each and every boot camp the United States Military had to offer. For those who don't want to serve, he makes sure we know what we want to do when we get out of high school; we spent a full week writing out a ten year plan for our future. You can tell that he truly cares for all cadets under him, and wants to see them succeed in the future.

When he teaches the class, he often tells us many stories from both civilian, and Marine life. He has told us about times of danger, and times of fun; he never shies away from the messy details, but he makes sure we know that the world is full of good things and that it's worth being here.

 I can think of no finer example of not just a Marine, but a role model for all youth. There is no other person I would rather nominate for Educator of the Year.