CCSD teacher recognized as state Teacher of the Year in surprise ceremony

Sitting in an auditorium at the Advanced Technologies Academy on Monday morning, math teacher Mike Patterson said he thought he was at an assembly to recognize the school’s math department.

But the audience — consisting of dozens of students, administrators and fellow teachers — was there to celebrate Patterson himself, who, unbeknownst to him, was being recognized as 2025’s Nevada Teacher of the Year.

“This is a beautifully blessed day, my friends,” Patterson said when he took to the podium. For him, despite the turn of events, the day was still about his fellow math teachers, he said.

“I thought this was about a department, and I still believe that,” Patterson said. “It’s an award to represent the great teaching that happens here in Nevada.”

Patterson said he has been teaching at the academy for more than 20 years, and has found a “beautiful home” at the school.

Lauded by administrators for his innovative teaching techniques, Patterson created the high school’s board game club as a way of using games to get students excited about math.

“Putting students first isn’t just a phrase,” said Anthony Marentic, the school’s principal. “It’s about staying late to tutor someone who’s struggling, working weekends to adjust lesson plans for better engagement, making sure that students are involved in the school community.

“Mr. Patterson, you are that person,” Marentic said.

Teacher of the Year

Jhone Ebert, state superintendent of public instruction, said she wanted the crowd to celebrate, because it was “not just an award” that Patterson was receiving, but rather the 2025 Nevada Teacher of the Year award.

“History is being made in this room right now,” Ebert said. “This is just the beginning.”

As teacher of the year for the state, Patterson will have the opportunity to apply for the National Teacher of the Year award, Ebert explained.

He also will be able to work with Ebert and her colleagues to change policy throughout Nevada, “to make sure that the educational environment is what we want it to be,” Ebert said.

Making policy is something new to Patterson, he said. But it was something he considered throughout the application process for the award.

“I need to find ways to provide greater support into the teaching network,” Patterson said. “We lose wonderful teachers to some very tricky and difficult situations, and I want to be their voice.”

“I want to find better ways to keep our great teachers and to encourage them,” Patterson continued. “Today is special for me, but I want them to know it’s special for them.”

Marentic said he’s excited to see Patterson representing the Advanced Technologies Academy at a state level. “They’ll see who he is and how he treats people, and they’ll understand that that’s what A-Tech is all about,” he said.

Mr. Patterson

Patterson is from Canada, where “unfortunately,” he said, much of his family was on Monday. He taught for five years in Canada before joining the Clark County School District, according to a press release.

“My mother and father passed away,” Patterson said. “This was a moment where I wanted them to be here. I wanted them to be a part of this. It was quite a special thing, though they’ll feel it. They’ll know it.”

Speaking to the audience, Patterson said he never thought “this would be something I would be worthy of.”

“But, what I can tell you is that, my young friends in front of me, you want to find what I found, which is a way to go to work and never really feel like it’s work,” he said. “I have found a way to, every year, make 180 new friends.”

His board game club, which he said “sounds like seven kids down in a small room playing Monopoly,” is in reality a gathering of around 150 students who join Patterson every Thursday.

“A teacher’s job is not 7-to-3,” Patterson said. “It’s all day, it’s all weekend. It’s a lifestyle.”