Dr. Roy Basa/Courtesy photo
PED NEWS RELEASE
The New Mexico Public Education Department and New Mexico Gas and Oil Association today announced that Dr. Roy Basa is the 2024 New Mexico Teacher of the Year.
The New Mexico Teacher of the Year Program began in 1963. Each year, all New Mexico school districts, and Charter schools are invited to nominate an outstanding teacher to become New Mexico’s Teacher of the Year, who acts as the spokesperson for the teaching profession in New Mexico.
“To know that I am the New Mexico 2024 Teacher of the Year, I’m really speechless,” said Basa. “All I want to say is thank you so much to all the people who are involved and who are with me in this journey. This is a journey to grow and learn, and I can use this to be a forever learner.”
Basa has spent over 23 years in education and has taught for the last three years at Twin Buttes Cyber Academy and Zuni High School, educating 9th through 12th-grade students in STEM related subjects.
He utilizes project-based learning and community collaboration instructional strategies to cultivate a learning environment that inspires problem-solving, collaboration, and culturally and linguistically responsive practices.
“Our students love him, and they are enamored with the work he does for them,” said Randy Ann Stickney, the Superintendent for the New Mexico Zuni school district. “He represents our school district in a remarkable way, but he will also do the same for the state of New Mexico.”
Basa is originally from the Philippines and has made it his career mission to serve linguistically diverse populations.
Basa has established lasting relationships with his students and communities, and from his many accomplishments, he emulates what it means to be a lifelong learner.
“Dr. Basa, you exemplify what it means to be a teacher, but not just any teacher, but a teacher in New Mexico who is doing amazing things with a population of students that need you,” said Arsenio Romero, the New Mexico Secretary of Education. “Thank you for what you do and continue to do what you do, and now you get to represent every educator in New Mexico to make us all better.”
Congratulations to Basa for being honored as the 2024 New Mexico Teacher of the Year. He will now be representing New Mexico teachers on the national stage as he enters the running for 2024 National Teacher of the Year.