St. Michael's alum receives prestigious Cisco education award

Cypress Creek High School technology teacher Tom Halbert working with former student
Tim Delaforce during an Internetworking Technologies II class last year
Photo courtesy of  Cyprus-Fairbanks ISD

Local residents Dr. Tom and Edrie Halbert are proud parents after being notified that their son Tom (Tim) Halbert, a 1978 St. Michael's School Graduate, has received Cisco's award as one of the top 25% instructors globally. The competition involves Computer Science teachers, including University and College Professors as well as Cisco's own trained instructors. Cisco is one of the preeminent networking companies in the world.  It designs, manufactures, and sells a wide variety of products and services including routers, data centres, software, etc.  It is considered to be one of the most valuable companies in the world.

On August 29, 2013 Cypress Creek High School technology teacher Tom Halbert was selected by the Cisco Networking Academy as an Advanced Level Instructor.  Cyprus Creek High School is located in Houston Texas.


The award recognizes Halbert’s achievements as one of the top 25 percent instructors globally in the following areas:

• participation in online instructor communities;
• number of professional development opportunities completed;
• attention to student needs;
• student performance; and
• use of resources.

“I really did not see this coming, and while I am humbled by the recognition, it is really the kids that work so hard,” Halbert said. “I am blessed to work in Cy-Fair and be able to come to work every day and share with my student my technology world.”

The Cisco Networking Academy includes 10,000 academies in 165 countries, helping individuals prepare for industry-recognized certifications and entry-level information and communication technology (ICT) careers in virtually every type of industry. According to Cisco, students develop foundational skills in ICT while acquiring vital 21st-century career skills in problem solving, collaboration and critical thinking.

-corrected for accuracy