Mr. Jose Flores has been an advocate for K-12 Civic Learning throughout the 25 years he has taught at Brawley Union High School. He has successfully guided his students to apply learning across subject matter, most notably tying together standards-based science education with government and civics. Jose's students regularly correspond and interact with government officials and engage in environmental topics relevant to their community. He was recently honored at the White House with a 2016 Presidential Environmental Education Innovator Award.
Jose is currently an Instructional Quality Commissioner at the California Department of Education. He also serves as a California K-12 Civic Learning Task Force Advisor and is on the California K-12 Environmental Literacy Steering Committee. His students have been instrumental in obtaining the California Civic Learning Award of Excellence, American Civic Education Teacher Award, Congressional Civic Learning Award, and CSBA Golden Bell (Juanita Haugen Memorial Civic Education Award). His passion for sharing knowledge is evident through his role in training other educators on sustainability topics and advocating for more environmental education at the state level. His students live into this passion as well; they recently co-hosted an event to teach 300 individuals nationwide about environmental concerns such as pollution and pesticides.