Arizona music educator Efrain Casillas has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Chicanos Por La Causa
I am always pleased to share the story of an exceptional educator who has been recognized for their work with young people. One of these is Efrain Casillas, a music educator from Arizona. He has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.
Efrain serves as the Co-ordinator of Music Programs for the Tolleson Elementary School District (TESD) in Phoenix. There he created the district’s first mariachi, jazz, marching, concert, and Latin jazz bands. Under his expert direction, the Tolleson Elementary School Mariachi Band competed at the Tucson International Mariachi Conference, where they won first and second place in the Choice Awards—three years in a row! The band has also performed at Disneyland in the Disneyland Parade. Efrain’s Latin jazz band has participated in the Fiesta Bowl Parade for three consecutive years. Currently, Efrain teaches both general and instrumental music at two schools in the district.
For his work in the classroom, Efrain was a featured guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2020. He garnered an Esperanza Latino Teacher Award from Chicanos Por La Causa in 2018 and a Music Teachers of Excellence from the Country Music Association Foundation the same year. Furthermore, he was nominated for the Life Changer Award in 2017, and in 2015 he was selected TESD’s Teacher of the Year. He has also served as a presenter for the National Symposium on Multicultural Music at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 2004. He is an active member of the Arizona Music Education Association.
As Arizona’s Teacher of the Year, Efrain will receive $15,000 from the Arizona Educational Foundation. He will travel to National Teacher of the Year events, meet the President at the White House, and attend the International Space Camp in Alabama. The Arizona Educational Foundation says the honored educator will also be considered for an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University.
Efrain earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance and his teaching certificate in education, both from Western Connecticut State University. His career as a public-school music teacher spans 24 years.
