PRCC instructor named ETA Educator of the Year

POPLARVILLE - Pearl River Community College Electronics Technology instructor Vic Cerniglia has been recognized as the 2017 ETA Educator of the Year.

Cerniglia, 47, will receive his award March 8 in Orlando, Fla., at the annual Electronic Technology Association awards banquet.

“Vic Cerniglia is an exceptional teacher and has been instrumental in the success of many PRCC Career and Technical Education students,” said Dr. Ed Pinero, Director of Career and Technical Education at PRCC.

Cerniglia is in his 18th year as Electronics Technology instructor at PRCC. He was nominated for the award by Greg Mecomber, a former PRCC student who will receive the 2017 Electronics Technician of the Year award on the same night.

“This is a pretty big honor for me,” said Cerniglia. “It’s flattering just to be nominated, but to win it is something special because there are many instructors out there like myself who could win this award.”

Mecomber, a 2002 graduate of Pearl River Central, spent time in the Air Force before attending PRCC from 2012-14. He was a triple major at the time, taking instrumentation, electronics and bio-medical equipment repair. While attending PRCC, he passed the ETA-International’s Certified Electronics Technician Associate exam.

Today, Mecomber is a control technician at Carlex Glass America in Nashville, Tenn.

“It is great to know that one of our graduates appreciated Vic’s contributions and nominated him for this wonderful honor,” said Dr. Pinero. “We are fortunate to have Vic Cerniglia as an instructor at PRCC.”

Electronics Technology is one of the more popular career-technical programs at PRCC.

“We’ve doubled our enrollment in just the last few years. Word of mouth is the best way we sell our program. We are busting at the seams right now," Cerniglia said. "A lot of our students go offshore to work and they can make a lot of money. That’s good for us and it is good for the college.”