AZ teacher Andrea Barallardos named finalist for Arizona ambassador for Excellence

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Andrea Barallardos, a STEM teacher from Douglas, Arizona, has been named one of five finalists for a 2024 Arizona Ambassador for Excellence award. Photo Credit: Scripts Local Media

Congratulations are due to Andrea Barallardos, an exceptional math educator from Douglas, Arizona. She has been named one of five finalists for a 2024 Arizona Ambassador for Excellence award.

Andrea teaches engineering, technical education, and physics at Douglas High School. She has worked at the school since 1999. She also serves as the Chairperson for the Science Department, and she is a STEM coach and SkillsUSA advisor. Her students have excelled so well they have even garnered gold medals in Robotics and Automation technology in 2022 and 2023, and Mobile Robotics in 2023.

Andrea has also served as the school’s cheerleading advisor. Her teams have excelled there, too. In fact, they’ve won a total of five state championships, the most current being Division III Coed Cheer in 2023. 

When she was younger, Andrea’s decision to go into the classroom was not a foregone conclusion. “If you told me in high school that I was going to be a teacher I probably would have bet you a million dollars that I wasn’t,” she remembers. But her attitude about the profession took a radical change while she was studying to be a doctor in the Philippines. That’s when she was encouraged to consider education as a career by those who observed her teaching an anatomy class. “I love teaching,” Andrea declares. “So every day when I wake up it’s not like I’m going to a job. It’s like I’m going to something fun that I love doing,” she says.

Her recognition as an ambassador for excellence is not the only honor Andrea has received. In 2023, she was named Cochise County Teacher of the Year.

Andrea earned her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Sciences from Cebu Doctors’ University, Mandaue City, in the Philippines in 1998. She earned her Master’s degree in Science Education from Arizona State University in 2009.

To read more about Andrea Barallardos, click on this link to an article about her published by Skills USA Champions.