Mr. Hackett has been an educator since 1981 earning his Bachelor’s of Science degree from Eastern Michigan University and his Masters Degree in Instructional Technology from Grand Canyon University. He has been connecting education to community service since 1995 and received a National Learn and Serve Award from President Clinton in 1998; represented the Corporation for National and Community Service as an expert in the implementation of Service-Learning into teacher education; and has presented before the Virginia State Senate to promote the creation of a Service-Learning class for adoption into the state curriculum. He has been published in educational magazines and has worked closely with the Virginia Department of Education presenting nationally the civic responsibility of Service-Learning and showed interested participants how to obtain funding to support these efforts. Since 1999, he has been coordinating and promoting curriculum based community-service projects through technology, with programs ranging from computer recycling projects like 'Bridging the Gap’ to developing assistive technologies for students with special needs. Mr. Hackett is one of the coordinators of the Students Working to Advance Technology (SWAT) and co-author of the VASTAR project for the State of Virginia and is the VASTAR coordinator at Forest Park High School. He is currently the Instructional Technology Resources Teacher for the school where he supports the staff and students in the infusion of technology into the 21st Century classrooms.