A Granton High School teacher was recently honored in a big way.

Lorna Vazquez just got back from an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C. where she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics.

Vazquez is the first teacher at Granton to win the award.

She says her love of numbers and helping kids understand math, are reasons she enjoys being a teacher.

Vazquez says she was excited when she found out she won the award.

Students in Lorna Vazquez’s Pre-Calculus class finished up a lesson on Monday, a lesson that won Vazquez a national award.

Lorna Vazquez says, "It's a very prestigious award. I consider it the epitome of awards for math and science teachers."

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science honors two teachers from each state every year.

Lorna Vazquez says, "This lesson I taught that I was selected for is a very innovative lesson."

It paired her students with the Clark County Surveyor to help learn trigonometry with a GPS system.
Principal at the school, Craig Anderson, says Vazquez is a lifelong learner and an outstanding teacher.

Craig Anderson says, "She really understands in order to be effective at what you do, it's not a part time job, it's a full time job that she takes very seriously."

Vazquez says she got to tour the White House when she was in D.C. and was supposed to meet President Bush, but had to settle for Vice President Dick Cheney instead.

Lorna Vazquez says, "He was busy and everything was happening on the same day."

Vazquez's math students say they're proud to have her as a teacher.

Tami Thoma says, "We have a lot of fun and we do a lot of activities and not just learning learning learning."

Connie Eibergen says, "She explains why things work and why math works the way it does."

Vazquez says she'll head back to Washington D.C. next year.
She applied for the Einstein Fellowship, which she received along with 14 others.

Vazquez will work with the Department of Energy where she'll try to help ensure there are plenty of quality teachers around for the coming years.

She took a leave of absence for the entire school year.