Teacher of the Year – David Mangus

David, a high school engineering teacher, motivates at-risk students to design and construct complex power projects for underserved communities around the world. Through his Nepal Project, his scholars create hybrid wind/solar generators for remote Himalayan villages in need of clean energy sources.

Dave also created and directs a four-year non-vocational biotechnology pathway at Brockton High School. When not in the lab, Dave enjoys spending time outdoors gardening or kayaking.

Early Life and Education

Dave Mangus spent half his life as a research scientist before making the switch to teaching. This passion was fostered through volunteering at his children’s schools and leading workshops on chemistry, math and physics topics.

David is currently a biology teacher at Brockton High School in Massachusetts and was named The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon Massachusetts STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Teacher of the Year for 2016.

David strives to help students comprehend that biology is more than a collection of facts. As a teacher, David strives to give them opportunities for exploration and enrichment in biology. He especially takes pride in leading their biotechnology program at school which combines two years of biotech classes with one year of forensics, followed by a final senior year centered around an original research project.

Professional Career

David Mangus spent nearly half his life working as a research scientist. He enjoyed exploring the laboratory, understanding how things worked, creating experiments and discovering new things.

He later began volunteering at his children’s schools, conducting workshops in chemistry, math and physics. Ultimately he discovered that teaching students about science and technology was his passion and decided to switch careers.

At Brockton High School, he runs a four-year non-vocational biotechnology program that gives students an engineering perspective on biology and culminates in their final capstone project. Since its inception two years ago, this program has seen an incredible surge of enrollment – from 16 students in its first year to more than 250 by its second.

Achievement and Honors

David Mangus, a former research scientist and biology teacher, has earned multiple accolades for his accomplishments. In 2016, he was honored as The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon Massachusetts STEM Teacher of the Year during an awards ceremony held at Worcester’s DCU Center on November 1.

He also runs an engineering project called Nepal Project that gives at-risk students the tools and support to design and construct hybrid wind/solar generators for Himalayan villages. This initiative is supported by Connecticut philanthropist-traveler Peter Werth and United Technologies Corp.

David is passionate about inspiring incredibly capable scholars and believes that enrichment opportunities outside the classroom are instrumental to their academic success. Thus, he strives to broaden his students’ educational opportunities, including providing internships at local biotechnology companies and universities.

Personal Life

For nearly half his life, he worked as a research scientist. He enjoyed the challenge of working in the laboratory, designing experiments, and learning new things.

As his children grew, he began volunteering at their schools, leading workshops on chemistry, math and physics for students. The enthusiasm and energy of the students was so infectious that it fueled his desire to become an educator.

Since 2007, he has served as a science teacher at Brockton High School in Massachusetts, creating and leading a four-year non-vocational biotechnology program that integrates biology with an engineering perspective, using topics such as genetic engineering, synthetic biology and biomimicry. This year he was named The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon Massachusetts STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Teacher of the Year.

Net Worth

David Mangus has served as Science Department Head for Brockton Public Schools since 2012. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he has extensive educational experience spanning over 16 years.

He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and is 22 years old. As of 2021 his net worth is estimated to be between $3-$4 million USD.

David Stakston made his fortune through modeling projects and commercials. Additionally, he appeared in several short films and television shows.

He is best known for his role as the main character on the Norwegian teen drama streaming television series Skam. Additionally, he featured in Netflix fantasy drama series Ragnarok.