After running federal grants for National Board programs in Albuquerque and New Mexico for over three years, I stepped down to focus on family. However, I continue to work with National Board candidates in northern New Mexico (over 100 candidate teachers since 2016). I teach classes and support teachers who work in mostly rural, poor districts as they work to improve their teaching and impact student learning. Currently I coordinate work with the Los Alamos National Labs Foundation to support many of these teachers. In addition, I am the program vice-president for New Mexico's Delta Kappa Gamma, am on the board for NM English Expo language arts competition, serve on the board for the NM Teachers of he Year, and I write a blog for the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. I have written five extensive training manuals for teachers doing National Boards. "Our job requires that we teach our students many skills, but perhaps the most important skill we teach them is how to find out what they need to know," says Pat Graff, who taught journalism and communication skills at La Cueva High School in Albuquerque. Ms. Graff believes that "education must be flexible and innovative, energetic and novel, disciplined and caring. My philosophy of teaching," she adds,"is that I need to provide my students with as many different experiences as possible, both inside and outside the classroom." Ms. Graff organizes field trips, invites guest speakers, and encourages her classes to submit their work to writing contests as ways of establishing a vital link between the classroom and the world. Ms. Graff insists, however, that the most important activity that is pursued in her classes is the "celebration of diversity in ourselves and others." .
1976 Oklahoma State University, B.S., University of New Mexico, MA
National Board Certified Teacher
