A man of many talents, Mr. David Bandy was named the 2016 Teacher of the Year at Tunstall High School. Bandy graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Industrial Arts Education and Mechanical Drawing. He began his teaching career at Reidsville High School, and then worked under the Danville City School System before coming to Tunstall.

Following his father’s footsteps into teaching, Bandy said, “My father taught carpentry in Roanoke City Schools and he seemed to enjoy it. Plus, I decided engineering was not for me while I was in college. The calculus killed me! I began teaching right out of college.” Bandy has taught for an overall twenty five years, but took a five year break to run his own business, B&B Garage Doors, where he worked to sell and install garage doors.

Bandy spends all four periods teaching students down in the agriculture hall. He teaches manufacturing technology classes, showing students manufacturing techniques such as woodworking. “Some days it can prove to be quite stressful and tiring if the students are more wound up than usual. Other than those days I enjoy teaching straight through the day,” said Bandy. “It definitely makes the day go by quickly.”

One unique project in his manufacturing class is allowing Trojans to build the theatre sets for drama. This year’s backdrop to “A Servant of Two Masters” is a Tuscan style inn, built by Bandy’s students and painted by the art department. “It allows students to see something that they had a part in constructing and it helps out the drama department. I have had experience building sets in the past from Danville Little Theater in my years when I taught in Danville.” Additionally, the same manufacturing class has just finished building lockers for the new baseball field house.

Bandy has three children.  Kayla is the Woman’s Bowling Coach at the University of Maryland, Jeremy works as a chemist and production manager for the Bedford Weaving Mill in Bedford, Virginia, and Stuart is a financial loan consultant for Wells Fargo in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Bandy’s wife also shares a love for teaching and is a retired math teacher from George Washington High School. “She is waiting for me to retire so that we can travel in our RV.”

Mr. Bandy will be recognized at the Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Dinner to be held on May 9, 2016 at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.