CANTON, Mass. -- Every two weeks, NewsCenter 5 presents a high school senior who has taken the lessons of the classroom and applied them to life.

This week's A Plus student is Blue Hills Regional Technical School’s Derek Lagasse. NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that Derek had to fight through adversity to achieve some of his greatest accomplishments. He's now leading his fellow engineers-in-training into the 21st century with his innovation and hard work.

As captain of his school’s robotics team, Derek is hoping to build on the success of last year's gold medal-winning underwater ROVER.

“It's a real leadership role, and you really have to bring everyone together towards one common goal and keep everyone going in the same direction,” said Derek.

“His best qualities are leadership. He has a go to attitude. He gets the job done and always exceeds my expectations. If I want something small, he'll make it big and better,” said Dr. Michael Meyers, chairperson of the school's engineering department.

Derek currently ranks number four in his class. A jack of all trades, he's also a novice inventor and videographer. He's worked hard to become a leader, even while living with autism spectrum disorder.

“They actually had to send me out of school to be schooled at home with a tutor. So they couldn't find a placement for me,” Derek related. “At that point, it just basically seemed like the lowest of low. I just had to say to myself, ‘Why am I here?’”

But once he started high school, Derek decided that he would see his disability as a gift.

“The main way it affects me is I'm very literal, very black and white, very oriented. And it's great in a field like engineering where everything is a process,” Derek said.

“I think he is one of the best engineers our school has ever produced,” Meyers added.

“He's very intelligent. He's very articulate. He's very goal oriented. He has a passion for what he does,” said Carol Hartnett, a faculty advisor for the national, student-run organization, SkillsUSA.

“I just want to be the best I can be and better myself and help better others,” said Derek.

If you know a special student who truly makes a difference in his or her classroom, e-mail us your nomination. Please include your phone number.