December 20, 2005 > Logan High teacher nominated for NFL award

by Rick La Plante

A James Logan High School teacher is one of 32 nominees for the National Football League's Teacher of the Year award.

Tina Bobadilla-Mastel was nominated by Dallas Cowboys defensive back Roy Williams, a 1997 Logan graduate and the Cowboys' 2004 "Man of the Year'' for his community work in Dallas. The "Man of the Year'' from each of the NFL's 32 teams makes a nomination for the Teacher of the Year award.

The winning teacher receives a $5,000 grant from the NFL and a $10,000 grant to be presented to the school where they teach. The winner also will be invited to be the nominating player's guest at the NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii in February.

"This is very cool,'' Bobadilla-Mastel said. "I am so honored." Williams was a student in Bobadilla-Mastel's world literature class during his senior year at Logan.

"His particular class was part of the Electronic Media Production Academy, which cored his English and social science classes with video production and multimedia classes,'' Bobadilla-Mastel recalled. "Roy was interested in broadcasting/video back then and made some pretty interesting videos.''

The NFL's Teacher of the Year award was created by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in 1999 to honor teachers who had a positive influence on players. The aim of the program "is to honor and recognize teachers and to encourage our young fans to think of teachers, as well as athletes, as role models," Tagliabue said.

Through the Teacher of the Year program, teachers are recognized for their outstanding work with students in the classroom as well as their ability to relate their lessons to real-life experiences.