A typical day in high school involves worksheets, tests, essays and a whole heap of social awkwardness for the student. In Spanish and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Developments, a class to prepare first-generation graduates for college) teacher Mario Vigil’s classroom at Pojoaque Valley High School, it’s likely that one will find much more than students filling out worksheets and copying definitions.
“Teaching is about providing teaching and learning in context,” Vigil said. “As teachers, we have to teach with heart along with mind. We have to know when to be a counselor, when to be a nurse, a teacher, a guidance counselor, all of those things and all of those qualities are what transform teaching into an art.”
Maybe it is this approach — to come to his job each day as an artist — that has earned Vigil the prestigious Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is one of the teachers who sees the big picture, sees past the long day and the occasional over-rambunctious student. The Golden Apple is presented to only seven teachers in the state each year.
“The award is given to seven outstanding teachers throughout the state,” Golden Apple Foundation Executive Director Brian O’Connell said. “We are really excited when smaller communities nominate teachers for this award.”
The process the teachers must go through is intensive and thorough, O’Connell said. First, teachers nominate other teachers they think are fit to win the award. Those nominated are then sent an application, and those who complete and return the application, are contenders for the award, he said. The Foundation then evaluates each application and selects the top 16.
“It’s an accomplishment to be recognized in the top 16,” O’Connell said.
For the 16 finalists, a team of three teachers is sent to their school-site where an all day evaluation is conducted.
“This is a very extensive process,” he said.
Last summer, 88 nominations were turned in state-wide, however, only 28 nominees returned the application.
“Twenty-eight applicants is way down from the average,” O’Connell said.
Another Pojoaque teacher, English teacher Lenore Trujillo, was a finalist for the award and will receive recognition as a Golden Apple distinguished teacher.
Vigil described a recent day in the classroom. He could not describe a “typical” day, because there are no typical days, he said.
On Dec. 3, in his Spanish 3 class, his students had a final assessment. But it was more than a Scantron and essay. Vigil said his class had been studying fashion. Since he has a combination of native and non-native Spanish speakers in his class, it was hard to come up with an assessment to equally challenge both groups.
“I put up an overhead (projector) with a descriptive paragraph (in Spanish) about a person wearing a certain style of clothing, and then I had the students draw the person and the style of dress,” Vigil said.
The class, though, didn’t end there. After the kids finished their drawings and wrote a descriptive paragraph about the setting most appropriate for the outfit, it was time for a fashion show.
“The students broke up into partners and then a couple of the kids videotaped it,” Vigil said.
The students even picked out the music for their fashion show. Activities such as this not only help the students learn, but enable the students to take ownership of their learning, Vigil said.
He has taught at Pojoaque Valley High School for the last 13 years, and he has no intention of doing anything else. Vigil said he came to be a teacher by accident. He went to New Mexico State University, where he earned a double bachelor’s degree in communications and foreign language. It was after graduation that reality hit, and he needed a job. He answered an advertisement for a Spanish teacher at Pojoaque High School, his alma mater.
“I didn’t get the position, but the school called back and asked if I wanted to be an instructional assistant for special education,” Vigil said.
He took the job. During that year, the Spanish teacher who was given the job rather than him, left. Vigil started work on his teaching certificate, taking classes at Northern New Mexico College.
“I never sought out to be teacher, but now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” Vigil said.
One fellow teacher couldn’t imagine Vigil doing anything else, either. Her name is Susan Rudolf-Quintana, and she won the Golden Apple Award in 2002.
“The award for me was a very big moment in my life. To be recognized for your hard work and told that the things I did are good was very important,” Rudolf-Quintana said. “It is great for teachers to be recognized.”
Not only did Rudolf-Quintana nominate Vigil for the award, but she also taught Vigil when he was in high school, and has since spent years teaching in a classroom next door.
“I know and have worked with Mr. Vigil for many years, and I have learned tons of things from him as a teacher. I haven been in his classroom and thought he was extraordinary,” Rudolf-Quintana said.
She said watching Vigil transform from a student into a teacher was fun. While he struggled as many teachers do in his first couple of years, he was a natural-born teacher, she said.
“He has the skill. He is well-organized and really creative. He is a natural-born teacher whether he thinks it or not. He takes on ideas and sees how to use it in the classroom in 100 different ways,” Rudolf-Quintana said.
In fact, Vigil is such a strong and innovative teacher, Rudolf-Quintana has stolen some ideas from him. His biggest gift as a teacher, though, can’t be shared, Rudolf-Quintana said. The gift is innate.
“He is a big project-based teacher and he is able to take an idea and turn it into a full-bodied creation,” she said. “It is really a big gift.”
When Vigil was told he won the award, he couldn’t believe it.
“When I was filling out the application, I thought, ‘I’m not qualified,’ ” Vigil said.
However, most other people thought otherwise — including Pojoaque Valley High School Assistant Principal Skip Hemperley. Though this is Hemperley’s first year at Pojoaque, he said he was excited and proud of Vigil. Hemperley said he believes the environment at Pojoaque high school is conducive to good teachers — as Vigil is one of several honored teachers. Hemperley said the school is planning a dinner to recognize Vigil, Trujillo and Rudolf-Quintana as outstanding teachers sometime in January.
Principal Kathy McClendon has worked with Vigil for two years, both of which have been a pleasure, she said.
“We are extremely excited and feel that he is very, very deserving of this award,” McClendon said.
She said just before receiving news of Vigil’s award, she had finished evaluating him.
“I joked with him, ‘Well, this just affirms me, because I already observed you and evaluated you as a master teacher,’” McClendon said.
Vigil said he is excited to receive the $4,000 award, which can be used for professional development. His plan is to use the money to travel to a Spanish-speaking country where he can learn about a different culture and bring what he learned back to the students.
However, Vigil is not in teaching for the awards, he said. Instead, it’s for the students, who are the future, he said.
“Our job as teachers is to inspire creativity and promote active thought and from there, the students create their own learning,” Vigil said.
For new teachers, Vigil gave this advice: “Keep an open mind. Your resources are plentiful and all around you. Never truly lose sight of why you’re here. The students are the future. They are going to sustain us in the future. It is our job to help prepare them for a world that doesn’t exist yet and we must use all our resources to create a solid student who is able to compete in the global market.”
Vigil joins an elite few teachers from Northern New Mexico who have earned the Golden Apple recognition since its inception in 1996.
Terri Lindstrom, a 2013 recipient, teaches fourth through sixth grade math and social studies at Tierra Amarilla Elementary School.
LeAnn DeCoeur, a 2010 recipient, teaches at Fairview Elementary School.
Maria Rieckenberg, a 2005 recipient, taught English at Española Valley High School. She is now retired.
Susan M. Rudolf-Quintana, a 2002 recipient, teaches at Pojoaque High School.
Tito Rivera, a 2000 recipient, teaches at Chama Middle School.