Clovis teacher earns presidential award

It was in the early days of hybrid learning due to COVID-19 in 2021 that Silvia Miranda's fourth graders at Clovis' Mesa Elementary School learned that not only would they be alternating classroom and remote learning days, they would not be able to use the playground.

Miranda decided to channel the children's frustration into a math lesson. Yes, a math lesson

Miranda directed the kids to find a solution to their playground predicament, and set her charges to work planning a playground that would allow social distancing, using their new multiplication and division skills to compute areas and stay within a budget. That meant they had to add, subtract, multiply and divide money, too.

Yes, a math lesson.

Miranda made sure each student had a job to do, and the class worked together, using objects, diagrams and maps to support their calculations and worked out a plan for a playground that would place equipment in a way to allow 6-foot social distancing.

And, Miranda said, they stayed within their budget.

Then they presented their playground design and budget to the mayor of Clovis, who listened carefully to their ideas, Miranda said.

Miranda's inventive use of a real-world problem to show students how math applies to engineering and its relevance to a community issue, won her a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the White House announced on Feb. 4.

She was one of two New Mexico teachers to win the award, which the White House called "the highest award kindergarten through 12th grade mathematics and science (including computer science) teachers can receive from the U.S. government."

It was not the first time Miranda had won a high award for her teaching skills. She also was a finalist in 2020's National Science Teaching Association Teacher Awards competition and a 2018 Milken Educator Award recipient, according to a news release from Clovis Municipal Schools.

Julie Howell, principal of Mesa Elementary School, where Miranda taught for eight years, said Miranda's contributions were instrumental in Mesa's earning of a National Blue Ribbon School award in 2016.

Howell, Miranda and then-District Superintendent Jody Balch spent five days in Washington, D.C., to pick up that award, including Election Night, where they observed reactions to the election of President Donald Trump in a well-regarded hotel lounge near the White House, Howell said.

"We were in Washington watching history being made," Howell said.

While they were in Washington, Miranda also gave an interview in Spanish to Telemundo, a national Spanish-language television network.

"Spanish is my first language, she said.

Howell had high praise for Miranda.

"I love working with Silvia," she said. "She's always very encouraging and capable in whatever I bring to her."

Since 2016, Miranda has been named Clovis Teacher of the Year in 2018 and a New Mexico Teacher of the Year finalist. She has been a state ambassador for the New Mexico Teacher Leader Network for two years, and has served on the state Secretary's Teacher Advisory.

As a state ambassador, she spoke to the New Mexico Legislature during its 2022 session in support of a bill that will raise teacher salaries in the state by an average of 20%. The bill has passed pending Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's signature.

Math and science have always been Miranda's favorite teaching areas, she said, and she has always tried to tie her lessons to the real world.

She won her finalist status in the National Science Teaching Association Teacher Awards by putting her students "in lab coats and converting the computer lab into a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) lab."

"We had a had a weather station and we learned about water and its links with weather and life."

As part of that lesson, she said, her students became "weather pals" with students in Africa, where they talked about wells and water issues.

"We don't get much water in eastern New Mexico," she said, "but for some places in Africa it's much worse."

Miranda said she constantly monitors the progress her students are making and adjusts her methods based on quantifiable measures.

"I'm very data driven," she said.

Miranda currently works as a reading specialist between Mesa and the James Bickley Elementary School, where, she said, she is working more with administrators and teachers than with students.

Miranda said she is also working to "change the narrative" in education, which she describes as "grim."

To improve that outlook, she said, she is working with others on ways to improve teacher retention and recruitment.

Mostly, though, she is focused on keeping students satisfied.

"Happy kids do well," she said.