Tamangided is Teacher of the Year

Marvin Tamangided of the Dr. Rita Inos Jr. Sr. High School is the CNMI State Teacher of the Year for school year 2014-2015.

Along with Tamangided, Norissa Camacho of Kagman High School was awarded the State Instructor of the Year, and Preston Basa of Marianas High School was awarded State Teacher Aide of the Year at a Public School System banquet at the Royal Taga Hall of Saipan World Resort Wednesday night.

Marvin Tamangided, the new CNMI State Teacher of the Year, speaks to the crowd after his name was announced at the Royal Taga Hall of the Saipan World Resort. He has been a teacher at Dr. Rita H. Inos Jr. Sr. High School for the last five years. (Dennis B. Chan)

Judges this year were Shirley Sablan, First Hawaiian Bank’s Businesswoman of the Year; Leo Pangelinan, dean of Student Services at Northern Marianas College; and Agnes McPhetres of the Northern Marianas Technical Institute.

Before the announcement of this year’s Teacher of the Year, last year’s awardee, Paul Miura, took the stage for what he thought would be his “passing of the torch” speech. However, he realized that, like runners in the Olympics, one does not really hand over the proverbial torch to others but just ignites theirs.

“Share your flame with others,” he told the teacher nominees in the crowd.

Miura’s year was a busy one, attending various teacher leadership conferences as TOY for the CNMI, and even going to the White House to meet the President.

Board of Education member Lucy Blanco-Maratita, whose term ends this year, shared with the crowd her “last words,” as she called it.

She broadened PSS’ 2014-15 theme, “Grab the Wheels of Education…Steer your way to success,” into the metaphor of a car. She asked the crowd what part of the car a teacher would be—the engine, wheels, airbags, or even radio?

“No matter what part you choose, they are all critical, crucial, necessary, and important,” she said.

Education Commissioner Dr. Rita Sablan talked of PSS’ growth throughout the years. She said that salaries have about doubled, qualifications have risen, Kindergarten has been offered in schools—all since 1976 when PSS first began.

She said they must place an emphasis on teacher leadership and continue to “recruit the very best.”

‘Honored, humbled, surprised’

Teacher Aide of the Year Preston Basa said he was shocked but honored to receive the award.

“It’s a hard job. Not a lot of people can do it so I receive this award on behalf of all the teacher aides in the CNMI,” he said.

Camacho also said she was surprised that her hard work has paid off in a really humbling experience.

“I’m very thankful to whoever voted, nominated, and selected me as Instructor of the Year,” she said.

When his name was announced, Tamangided sat frozen in his chair on stage, taking him several seconds to absorb the news. He said he was shocked to be nominated and selected as a finalist, but even more astounded to be chosen as Teacher of the Year.

Tamangided is in his fifth year teaching on Rota. He is originally from Saipan, attending Garapan Elementary School, Hopwood Junior High School, and Marianas High School before heading to Guam for college.

It was in his final year in college, when he attended a teaching recruitment seminar in Guam in his final semester, that he met the then-principal of Rota’s high school, Maryann Quitugua.

“She really asked me… ‘Marvin, come to a place where you can really make a difference. You are needed more in Rota than in Saipan. Hearing that need, I decided it’s best I go [there],” he said.

To be selected as TOY, Tamangided had to write as much as eight essays on his teaching philosophy, his credentials, his biography, and his message as possible Teacher of the Year.

“My teaching philosophy? I believe our children are multiple learners and we cannot expect the students to respond to us—we have to respond to the way they learn,” he said.

Of the busy year ahead of him, Tamangided said he wants to discuss with other teachers all over the nation the issue of teacher retention, and how schools can keep its most effective teachers.

“This is a recognition, but I want people to know it’s also a responsibility, so I vow and I promise to represent education issues concerning our teachers and our students in the best way possible,” he said.

While at the top of his profession with the award, he did note that the biggest challenge he had to overcome was his instructional delivery.

“Anybody can know something, but how you teach it to someone is a whole different ball game. I had to learn my ways, my strategies, and what works best for me because every teacher is different, and that was a challenge because I was developing that… and I’m still developing it.”