wantage - High Point Regional High School has the honor this year of having one of its teachers win the prestigious title of Sussex County’s Teacher of the Year. Brian Drelick, is a Technology Education teacher and has been teaching at High Point for six years. At only 27, Drelick will be representing Sussex County as he proceeds to the next level of the competition this summer in Trenton. “It’s a tremendous honor to be named Sussex County Teacher of the Year and especially good to know that the judges embraced my philosophy of teaching, which is that students should feel empowered and everything they learn has to serve some useful purpose in the real world,” said Drelick. At High Point, technology is an elective subject and there is a one-year requirement for graduation. “All kids learn differently, and we could have two kids working together, one who may one day work for a big technology company and one who will leave here to work on a family farm. But they can work through things together, and it may not help them pass the SAT test but it will be helpful to them in life,” said Drelick. As a teacher who is closer in age to his students than most of his colleagues, Drelick is very aware of the opportunity he has to empower his students. “When kids see that you are committed, then they feed off that, and they can tell if you are prepared to work for them,” he said. Corbin Opilla, a senior who will be attending SUNI Maritime College in the fall, believes that he has a lot to thank Drelick for. “I got involved in technology as a freshman, and he is the reason that I am going to major in engineering in college,” Opilla said. Drelick grew up in Vernon an d both of his parents are teachers. He attended Vernon Township High School and graduated from the College of New Jersey in 2001. He recently received his masters from the University of Mass. Drelick is the Tech Studies Association advisor at High Point and serves as the President of the Technology Educators Association of New Jersey. In addition to his work promoting technology education, he also serves as High Point’s Head Boys’ Tennis Coach and Assistant Girls’ Tennis Coach.