Alexis Arias understands the meaning of second chances in life. In 2017 she survived one of the deadliest mass shootings in the U.S. while attending a concert with her family in Las Vegas. Despite sustaining a gunshot wound and fracturing her pelvis, Arias returned to her students within weeks of her injuries, ready to continue teaching with renewed meaning.
For many of Arias’ students, the alternative education program at Desert Sands Unified School District’s Amistad High School represents their second, and often last, chance to earn a high school diploma. Drawing from experience growing up in Indio, a community marked by a higher-than-national-average poverty rate, as well as her remarkable survival story, Arias is uniquely able to connect with and motivate her students.
Since many of her students previously struggled to find academic success in traditional school settings, Arias employs innovative, engaging teaching methods, primarily through small group instruction, to help her students – including English language learners – master their assignments. She uses a live tracker in the classroom to monitor academic progress in real-time and organizes field trips to local colleges to promote a pathway to post-secondary education. Arias is well-known and respected on campus as embodying the school’s SOAR attributes: Successful, Open-minded, Active learner, and Respectful.
Arias’ model of instruction and core values is contributing to notable, meaningful results at Amistad. With 85% of the students facing socioeconomic disadvantages, Amistad achieved a graduation rate of 91% -- among one of the highest for alternative education programs in the country. In addition, Arias’ work to prepare students to be “life-ready” has helped lead the school to a 93% FAFSA application rate, steady applications for employment or military service, and a continual, annual increase in the rate of students choosing to pursue post-secondary education.
Arias’ commitment extends beyond the classroom. Shortly after returning to school following the Las Vegas shooting, she developed a community service project for participants to perform 58 random acts of kindness, one for each life lost in Las Vegas. In addition, she serves as the junior and senior club coordinator, volleyball coach, and a curriculum writer for the district. She regularly shares her insights and expertise at statewide conferences on alternative education, including the California Continuing Education Conference and the Computer Using Educators (CUE) Conference.
Arias received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from California State University, San Bernardino, Palm Desert Campus, in 2007; and a Master of Arts in reading and writing instruction from California State University, San Bernardino, in 2015.
Press release: Lowell Milken Surprises Indio's Alexis Arias with 2023 Milken Educator Award for California and $25,000 Cash Prize
