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The precision manufacturing teacher in Sunnyside Unified School District was a first-place recipient of a $100,000 cash award in the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, one of three educators nationwide to receive the honor.

鈥淭his is yours,鈥� he said to his students after receiving the award. 鈥淚t鈥檚 because of your hard work.鈥�

An educator since 2007, Gutierrez has been teaching at Desert View since 2012. Desert View students are 80% Latino, and 90% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, according to a news release.

Sunnyside School District鈥檚 graduation rate is 77%. But Gutierrez鈥檚 students have a 100% graduation rate, and 82% of them graduate with postsecondary credit, the news release said. All of his students have taken part in work-based learning.

鈥淚 can help students understand that hard work can create opportunity, breaking a cycle of poverty,鈥� Gutierrez says. 鈥淭here is no greater joy for me than seeing my students begin to experience a sense of economic security and professional achievement.鈥�

Gutierrez uses his connections with local employers to find students internships and pathways to jobs. His students assist with building parts for local aerospace companies, creating metal signs for businesses, and they built solar-powered golf carts, the news release said. Through a partnership with Pima Community College, students earn up to 25 college credits, which equates to almost a full year toward an associate degree in industrial technology.

Gutierrez said his students receive the practical knowledge on what an engineer can do, and in college they鈥檒l receive the theory.

Desert View senior Ramon Cazares joined Gutierrez鈥檚 class as a freshman with no idea of what he was getting into. Now, like most of the class, he plans on going into engineering. He鈥檚 definitely going to college, he says, and because of the internships he got in Gutierrez鈥檚 class, he鈥檒l have a job while in school.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 like to think of him as a teacher,鈥� Cazares says of Gutierrez. 鈥淚 like to think of him as a boss.鈥�

Cazares and the rest of the class gathered around their teacher as he accepted the award. They spend many weekends and holidays together in the shop, passionate to keep working on their projects. In class, Gutierrez is just known as G. He鈥檚 like a bossy uncle who pushes them in the best way, says senior Monica Gutierrez.

Harbor Freight Tools for Schools awards more than $1 million nationally to public high school skilled-trades teachers and programs with this yearly award that began in 2017, the news release said.

The 2019 prize drew nearly 750 applications from 49 states. Along with Gutierrez, there were two other first-prize recipients who received $100,000, 15 second-place winners who received $50,000 and 32 semi-finalists who shared $32,000 in prizes.

Desert View receives $70,000, and Gutierrez gets $30,000. How the school鈥檚 portion will be spent isn鈥檛 ironed out yet, but Gutierrez said they鈥檒l be looking at what machines they need to keep the program moving forward.

As for his portion of the money, he has no idea what he鈥檒l use it for 鈥� he鈥檚 still in shock at the award. Besides the money, the nonprofit also gave Gutierrez a 30-inch, five-drawer mobile mechanic鈥檚 cart full of tools.

Gutierrez says he just tries to put the same passion into his work as an educator that his students put into their work.

鈥淓verything is for them,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd in return, they make it about themselves and their futures.鈥�