Marvin Gage started his teaching career in 1984 with Leland Public Schools and has been working with students in the classroom during five different decades. During this time he took a step back from education to gain real world work experiences, which helped to make him a better classroom teacher.
For 13 years, Marvin worked for a tool and die company in Sturgis, Michigan as a machinist and designer before earning the opportunity to lead one of the design departments. He designed machines for the automotive, residential, and commercial heating and cooling industry.
In 1983 Marvin received his BS in Industrial Education with a focus on drafting from Western Michigan University. He also earned his MA in Career and Technical Education from Western Michigan University in 1995.
In 1998 Marvin moved back into the classroom taking a teaching job at Kalamazoo Public Schools teaching Engineering and Architecture. Over a twenty-year period, he challenged his students with competitions that presented real life problems. Many of them winning both as teams and individuals at the state and national levels. By offering students multiple opportunities to choose from, every student was able to find something which excited them. Many of his students went on to get degrees in engineering and architecture.
In 2008 Marvin and his colleague were co-coordinators of the Kalamazoo Area Pre-College Engineering Program (KAP-CEP). They set up an after school and summer camp for middle school students that were underrepresented in the field of engineering.
In 2017 Marvin took on a new challenge and moved to Branch Area Careers Center in Coldwater, Michigan where he teaches Engineering, Architecture and Machine Tool. In 2019 Marvin’s students entered their first Michigan Design Challenge and places first. Since then, they have had four teams in the finals. He has also had a student win an international design competition and had a team get invited to the World KidWind Competition.
During his teaching career, Marvin has served as a mentor to over thirty teachers, student teachers, and pre-student teachers. He is on the MITES Executive Board as ROA Chairperson, has served as President, President-elect, Convention Chairman and rules a committee member. He has been on advisory committees for high schools, community colleges, universities and non-profits. Since 2009 he has been on seven committees for the Michigan Department of Education reviewing teacher certification requirements, created teacher certification exams, developed Algebra 2 curriculum for CTE, and updated standards for CAD and Architectural CIP codes. Marvin also worked on cut score projects for NOCTI and as a scholarship reviewer for SME.
Life outside the classroom consist of his wife Theresa of 27 years and two daughters, Katy and Tory Anne. If you ask him what his greatest educational honor has been, he will tell you when the Michigan Design Council presented him with the Governor’s Award in 2020.