Bowie continues with its annual tradition of honoring a staff member who has proved themself to go above and beyond with this year’s Teacher of the Year winner, Special Education Science teacher Kristian Mijares. 

“I was very, very surprised when I won, I even cried,” Mijares said. “It’s just such an honor to win because there were so many incredible nominees.” 

Mijares has worked closely with the staff at Bowie in her time working here and was surprised out of all the amazing teachers nominated the staff voted for her.

“Jake Morgan is an amazing teacher, Christina Rodriguez is an amazing teacher so to win Teacher of the Year was a huge, huge honor,” Mijares said.

Mijares has been teaching at Bowie for 12 years to share her love for learning and to be a supportive figure in her students’ lives. 

“I’ve always loved science,” Mijares said. “I love learning about science since it’s so applicable to our daily life. So I love the environmental aspect and learning about genetics also.”

Mijares also tries to support her own students in every way she can, getting them to engage in something she loves with the hope that she can make learning more fun and interesting for everyone who walks through her door. While supporting her students academically is her main goal she also cares about them as humans. 

“I try to be there for my students emotionally,” Mijares said. “A lot of students come to me if they’re hungry and if they need something to eat, so I try to have snacks for them.”

While the snacks are greatly appreciated Mijares goes out of her way to create an inviting environment where everyone is valued.

 “Even if they just need a safe place to be, I try to provide that for them,” Mijares said.  “So it’s not just about them learning science, which is great, but it’s also about supporting them emotionally as well.”

Winning Teacher of the year elicited a very emotional reaction from Mijares who has worked so hard to be a positive influence on our Bowie community over the last 12 years. 

“We as teachers give a lot emotionally to our students and to be recognized for that was such a great honor,” Mijares said. “I felt supported and appreciated by the community. The Bowie community is so supportive, loving, caring, and, you know, this is where I want to work because I do feel like it’s a Bowie family.”