ABYC Foundation Educator Forums
Educator Forum
Next Educator Forum - Nov. 10, 2026
Join ABYC’s online Educator Forum for practical tools designed to help marine trades instructors feel more confident and prepared in the classroom and shop.
We’ll share ready-to-use lesson resources, hands-on activity ideas, and assessment strategies. There will be a mini model lesson on lithium battery system upgrades, installation considerations, and maintenance with a guest industry expert from Cay Electronics in Portsmouth, RI. We will discuss ways to engage local businesses and hiring partners as speakers, donors, and classroom resources.
Come ready to ask questions, exchange successful teaching practices, and connect with fellow educators.
As an added incentive, attendees will receive a certificate of completion that may be applied toward professional development or continuing education requirements for accreditors such as ACCSC, (subject to institutional approval).
Educator Forum Agenda
November 10 (All times in ET)
2:00pm - ABYC & MTAP Goals for Supporting Standards Education
Meet new members of the ABYC team and learn how ABYC and MTAP are working together to strengthen standards education and better support marine trades instructors. We’ll share our goals for developing practical resources that help educators bring industry standards to life in the classroom and shop.
Presenters: Lisa Van Gruisen, Tim Murphy, Zachary Volpicelli
2:15pm - Sample Lesson Plan & Resources
Explore a sample lesson plan and ready-to-use resources designed to make course preparation easier. We’ll look at ways to organize instruction, build engaging shop activities, and use assessments to check student understanding—especially for experienced industry professionals who are newer to formal teaching.
Presenter: Lisa Van Gruisen
2:30pm - Lithium Battery Upgrades
See a technical lesson in action as Rogan Van Gruisen of Cay Electronics covers lithium battery system upgrades. The session will highlight best practices for onboard setup and use, key installation and maintenance considerations, and preferred upgrade and monitoring solutions; while demonstrating how local industry experts can enrich your program.
Presenter: Rogan Van Gruisen from Cay Electronics in Portsmouth, RI
3:15pm - Open Discussion
The main event! This is, by far, the number one reason educators claim to attend to the Educator Forum. Join us in this open, lightly moderated, discussion to pose questions, raise knotty problems, and discover fresh solutions with ABYC staff, industry folks, and your colleagues in MST and MTAP programs across the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. Think about your questions now, write some down during today’s sessions, turn on your camera, and unmute. Here we go!
About the Educator Forums
The Educator Forum provides a valuable platform for high school and post-secondary educators, as well as administrators of marine service technology programs, to connect, share challenges, explore available resources, and discuss opportunities for students.
ABYC invites industry leaders who are passionate about marine workforce development to participate as speakers. These professionals can share insights about their businesses, the industry as a whole, and strategies for bringing qualified marine technicians into the field. Interested speakers are encouraged to submit a description of their proposed talking points by visiting www.abycinc.org/EducatorForumApplication.
Questions? Let's talk!
Get in touch so we can start working together. Contact ABYC Education Director, Tim Murphy at tmurphy@abycinc.org for questions!
