Introducing Armijo’s Teacher of the Year: Mr. Don Mosley

Armijo chose Mr. Don Mosley as Teacher of the Year for the 2019-2020 school year. He teaches Directive Studies for 1st, 4th and 6th periods, and co-teaches an English class for 5th period. “In my class, I make sure all my students have access to Aeries and then from there, I show them how to navigate Aeries,” he said. “As the year progresses, I try to make sure they become more independent workers. I try to have monthly or weekly check-ins to where I’m showing them how if they’re doing in directive studies, and how to improving their grades.

“A lesson I want to teach my students for the future is that they can achieve any type of greatness that they want, they just have to figure out what is it that they want to achieve,” Mr. Mosley said. “I want them to understand that the way they feel about things now will change in the future. They just have to understand that the phase they are in life, this is how they will feel. But they will grow out of it.”

While his daily focus is on the here and now, he wasn’t his students to see their future by reflecting on their past achievements. “In 2020, I look forward to building off of the momentum I’ve gained this year,” he said.

“Over the years at Armijo High School, I’ve noticed that I have been more vocal with my students, letting them know that I do understand how they feel and how they may perceive things. I think, just for myself, that growth right there has allowed me to be able to relate more with students, be more versatile with the different types of students we have here at Armijo.”

His strategies and influence on his students has helped Mr. Mosley earn the respect of his fellow teachers, but he has also learned from them. After being chosen as Teacher of the Year, he said, “I learned that my colleagues think highly of me to vote for me… and I appreciate that….I think I was chosen because the people who see me work, understand that I do take the time to get to know my students and then leverage that knowledge into academic success.”

Mr. Mosley hasn’t done all of this so that he can be honored, however. In fact, he was not expecting this title. “I was astonished and surprised that my peers saw the hard work that I’ve put in and was willing to reward me for that… Mr. Lammon was a big support when I first got here at Armijo and he was the first person to ever sit me down and let me know that my non-verbal tells more than my words.

“To me, being Teacher of the Year means I’m a good gatekeeper at a game. I feel like I have knowledge that you can’t teach in books and some kids do understand that and they do learn from that knowledge. But you can’t always give it to them because of the environment that you’re in. I try to make sure that, when I give you this knowledge, it’s given to you in a professional way that you understand and that I do want you to have the best common sense. At the same time I want you to be able to understand in the environment that you’re in so that you can excel in this environment. A lot of kids in high school are here and they feel like they don’t know why, so I have to let them know how they prepare themselves for the future, whether that’s to go in the workforce, go into the military or go to college. You’re preparing yourself for what you want and you need to be able to step forward when it comes to you.”

Mr. Mosley sees his future at Armijo continuing for a while. “I don’t plan on retiring,” he said. “I hope I can be here as long as possible but I do know every good thing must come to an end. I don’t know when that end will be. I do look forward to the challenge of a new environment when it happens.”