Rob Callahan, left, director of the Lewiston Regional Technical Center, is presented Oct. 11 with the Administrator of the Year award from the Maine Association of Career Technical Education. Making the presentation is Lewiston Schools Superintendent Jake Langlais. Submitted photo

LEWISTON — Lewiston Regional Technical Center Director Rob Callahan has been recognized for his work by the Maine Association of Career Technical Education’s conference.

Callahan is set to represent Maine in the regional, and possibly national, level.

He was nominated for the award by his colleagues at the Technical Center on the Lewiston High School campus on East Avenue.

“He was nominated and he didn’t know anything about it,” Dave Keaton, executive director of Maine Association of Career Technical Education, said. “His staff wanted me to keep the whole process concealed to him, so we did.”

The association represents all the career and technical education centers in the state.

“We have 27 centers and regions, all the way from Fort Kent to Sanford,” Keaton said. “There is a director in each one of them, that comes up to 27 directors statewide.”

Following the nomination, Callahan went through a rigorous voting process by his peers. “He had to be voted on by our executive committee through this past summer,” Keaton said. “Now, he goes on to represent Maine at the regional and the national level.”

“It came from a group of colleagues that I deeply admire and respect,” Callahan said. “It’s very meaningful. It was very touching that they thought to mention my name or nominate me.”

“It was also very telling — it says something about the place that we work, that they care enough about their colleagues to recognize when they feel something good is being done,” Callahan added. “I was very flattered. It was funny that they really went to such great lengths to keep everything secret, I had no idea at all.”

“The biggest impact he has, he’s very knowledgeable on a lot of different subjects, especially educationally: on a state level, on a local level, community schoolwide,” Rob Schmidt, assistant director at the center, said. “But the thing that really stands out in my mind is how steady he is. He’s constantly a solid leader who doesn’t waver from what they believe. His strong moral conviction, his sense of humor, his ability to interact with all people, it’s never changed in the 15 years that I’ve known him,” he added.

“Again, the honors are always nice, but it’s most gratifying to see successful students leaving our school and starting their own businesses or going to work at local businesses and being successful,” Callahan said.