Amphitheater teacher wins prestigious award

Special education math teacher Marian Johnson was named the University of Arizona Online’s and Arizona Athletics’ Teacher of the Year, prizes that were open to Southern Arizona instructors.

The nine finalists were announced in October and were recognized during a UA basketball game.

Amphitheater’s principal chose Johnson as this year’s nominee.

“I do work hard, but you don’t always expect to be recognized for your work. So, it was really lovely to be nominated,” Johnson said.

Johnson teaches special education geometry and algebra, and she has helped grow the programs.

“When I first came in, our students were doing worksheets every day. To go from that to doing the same curriculum as everyone else, that has been one of my biggest accomplishments,” Johnson said.

She said she makes math relatable to students with different learning styles, whether it be through group projects, videos, hands-on activities and real-life scenarios.

“A lot of students with learning disabilities don’t necessarily learn by reading out of a book and seeing examples,” Johnson said.

“It has to be something more tactile and more visual. So, I try to have opportunities for them to use those other parts of their brains to figure it out and to remember it.”

She tries to show her students that math is accessible to them.

“By the time they reach high school, a lot of our kids in special ed have just decided, ‘I can’t do it. It’s too hard.’ So, it’s my place to get them to realize they can do it. I love watching that confidence build in them while they have me as a teacher,” Johnson said.

Johnson is also an advocate who helps special education students to work toward goals for after high school.

“I help them apply to colleges. I help them to fill out their FAFSA forms. I talk to them about what they want to do out of high school, and we discuss options for that. Sometimes, that happens with students within my classroom. We might have a conversation, and I can give them ideas,” Johnson said.

Johnson has also been a co-teacher in an oceanography and forensics class in the past.

“I was teaching with the regular gen-ed teacher, so I could provide special education support within that classroom,” Johnson said.

Bringing students together

Amphitheater is a unified school, which means that it offers clubs and sports for people of various abilities.

Johnson is her school’s Special Olympics head of delegation and its cheerleading coach. She also helps to coach Special Olympics track and tennis teams.

She pushed to bring Special Olympics to the school, and Amphitheater has been recognized by the Special Olympics national organization as a Unified Champion School.

“We have always had the feeling on campus that if you’re a student here, we’re all a family and belong…This is just another way to show that to the world,” Johnson said.

“One great thing about our campus is we have kids from so many different backgrounds, so many different cultures and so many different abilities. They’re all able to come together and be one unit. It’s one of the best parts about being here.”

Over the years, the school’s participation in the Special Olympics has grown from two athletes competing in track and tennis at the start to now include bowling, basketball, track and field, bocce, cheerleading and tennis.

Last year, the school’s basketball team won the AIA Silver Division State Competition.

Johnson heads her school’s Post Graduation, a safe-sober overnight event for graduating seniors. This is held throughout the district.

To raise money for the event, area high schools hold fundraisers such as the Oro Valley Cup Golf Tournament and the Guns and Hoses Kickball Tournament. Johnson is on the committees for both tournaments.

She is also co-sponsor for the school’s gardening club and sponsor for the ukulele club, along with assisting with pep club activities.

Johnson started learning the ukulele in 2020 so that she could sponsor the club. Johnson is learning along with her students.

“I don’t pretend to know everything about the ukulele. When we start a new song, we muddle through it and get through it together. It works out very well,” Johnson said.

Johnson is helping to set up a unified esports club, which like the gardening and ukulele club will be open to gen-ed and special-education students.

Along with her other activities, Johnson oversees ACT and SAT testing on the school’s campus.

She has been on the hiring committees for Amphitheater’s principal and one of its assistant principals, as well as interview committees for departmental positions.

Johnson said her busy schedule is fulfilling, even though she is sometimes tired.

“I come to school, and I’m going and going. Even on the weekends, I’m doing things. It’s a very crazy schedule, but it’s worth it. There are days that I’m exhausted, but at the end I can look back and say that was cool what happened. There’s not a lot of rest, but it’s worth it in the end,” Johnson said.

Working as a clerk and secretary helped Johnson to get familiar with the school’s policies, procedures and equipment.

A mentor for teachers, she helps to train others on the computer systems.

Lifelong dream

In her life, Johnson has had a range of jobs. She has taught picture framing at Pima Community College, done masonry work one summer in high school and delivered food on roller skates as a car hop.

Before becoming a special education math teacher in fall 2011, Johnson worked as a clerk and secretary at Amphitheater High School. An Arizona native, she also attended Amphitheater middle and high schools and Holaway Elementary.

She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology and a Bachelor of Science degree in geoscience from the University of Arizona.

While in college, she was a part of the Society of Earth Science Students. Through this group, she took a field trip to the Mohave Desert to study fault/earthquake activity, walked the Pinacate volcano fields in Mexico and visit the Painted Desert and Death Valley.

Johnson earned her teaching certificate from Pima Community College as part of the Grow Your Own program.

She had always had an interest in math but had decided to pursue geoscience and anthropology in college instead. Later in life, her path became clear.

“When I was going to college, I was a math major. My senior year, I was like, ‘I can only be a teacher or go into computer science,’ so I changed my degree. And now, I’m a math teacher. So, it’s so funny that I tried to divert myself but I came back to it because it’s what I was meant to do,” Johnson said.

“Math has always been a subject I’ve enjoyed and done well in. I really get a lot out of sharing that with my students.”

This article appears in Apr 27 – May 3, 2023.