Award established to honor Valley educators and attract young people to the career

The idea behind the Adams State Educator Highlight Award was to showcase the talent working inside the K-12 educational system in the San Luis Valley, with hopes the stories and voices of outstanding educators would inspire a new generation to go into the teaching and education profession.

To date 18 educators have been highlighted by the Adams State School of Education since the 2022-23 school year. The first was Monte Vista Special Education teacher Presley Garcia and the most recent is the teaching crew with the summer Upward Bound Program.

“It’s really given the School of Education an opportunity to not only recognize and celebrate the profession, which we hope will draw more young people into the profession, but it’s helped us to keep strong relationships with our surrounding school districts and with the educators who work in them. And it’s really helped us as a school establish ourselves in the community,” said Dr. Curtis Garcia, Adams State School of Education director.

Adams State will continue the Educator Highlight Award during the 2024-25 school year and is seeking nominations to recognize educators in the fall.

The recipients of the monthly award have stretched beyond the classroom to include school custodians and food service staff like Freddy Lawrence and Darlene Pinales, as well as the work of Aaron Miltenberger and team at Boys & Girls Clubs and the online instructional excellence of GOAL High’s Aron Williams.

“The award again enables us to just celebrate the hard work, the dedication that our educators put in each and every day to helping our kids meet their academic needs. And it’s given us that opportunity to raise consciousness and awareness of educators, not just in Alamosa, not just in Monte Vista … but all across the Valley. We try to work with all 14 school districts and we get nominations from all over the region, and it’s really exciting to recognize educators from different schools,” Garcia said.

The monthly award has created heartwarming moments and special surprises for the educators who have been recognized. Garcia said the award presentation has become a celebration the staff with the Adams State School of Education looks forward to each month. The goal remains growing the field of teachers to meet the demand of public education, just as Adams State has done since its founding as a teacher’s college 100 years ago.

“This is a profession that needs caring, dedicated people to be teachers, to be educators, whether they’re teachers or not. They can be paraprofessionals, they can be custodians, food service workers, but by devoting their time and work to the school and to the education of children, it’s something that benefits all of our communities and all of society,” Garcia said.

“We know there’s a shortage right now in the profession for teachers, so we’re hoping that this Educator Highlight Award, when young people see it, they are curious about or drawn to the profession because it is a very rewarding profession.

“Talk to any of our award recipients and they will tell you that this has been one of the most rewarding professions that they chose to enter into, and we’re hoping to spread the word about that to encourage other young people to join the profession.” Nominations for the Educator Highlight Award can be made at any time during the school year.

The Educator Highlight Award recognizes Adams State University School of Education alumni, prominent local teachers, and other educators working within or hailing from the San Luis Valley. In so doing, Adams State University hopes to build familiarity with the community as a serious destination for future educators.

Here’s a list of all the educators who have presented with the award from Adams State School of Education.

PAST EHA WINNERS

Presley Garcia, Monte Vista special education teacher
Nick Dionisio, Alamosa High English teacher
Aaron Miltenberger, Boys & Girls Club executive director
Anna Bishop, Center High School CLD teacher
Phyllis Vigil, Sierra Grande first-grade teacher
AlexAndria Moore-Guenter, Moffat Schools secondary counselor
Omar Gonzalez, Alamosa Elementary visual art and music teacher
Leanna Brazel, Alamosa Elementary kindergarten teacher
Freddy Lawrence, Alamosa Elementary custodian
Joe Guenther, South Conejos School District
Katie Turner, Del Norte math teacher
Edwin Mondragon, Monte Vista High School agriculture teacher
Aaron Williams, GOAL High School English teacher
Miriam Baines, Alamosa High School biology and math teacher
Rachel Kellum, Moffat Schools art teacher
Darlene Pinales, Sargent School District, food service staff member
Upward Bound summer faculty, Adams State University

ABOUT THE EDUCATOR HIGHLIGHT AWARD:

This monthly award recognizes Adams State University School of Education alumni, prominent local teachers, and other educators working within or hailing from the San Luis Valley. In so doing, Adams State University hopes to build familiarity with the community as a serious destination for future educators. To nominate and educator email Paul Clark at pclark@adams.edu.