Class of 1986 alumna, Ms. Armas is now working at Miami High as an intensive reading teacher for 9^th and 11^th graders and is also part of the SPED department. Ms. Armas is known as “Mama Armas” to band kids, because when her son was part of the Million Dollar Band (MDB) several years ago, she was a band parent.

Before Miami High

Before working at Miami High, Ms. Armas worked for 26 years at Auburndale Elementary School (AES), where she was a teacher for students with disabilities, a department chair, a program specialist, and a resource teacher. Ms. Armas is bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish. She has a masters in special education.

To be working at a school for 26 years, there must have been something powerful that drew her in. While she was a student at FIU, she worked as a substitute teacher and she would be called to Auburndale often to sub.

“I loved their family atmosphere, and everyone was very welcoming,” Ms. Armas said. “When I graduated, I went there first and it was my lucky day. They hired me!”

Ever since Ms. Armas graduated from college, she has only worked at AES and MHS. She holds both AES and MHS very dear to her heart calling them, “two very different schools and both amazing.”

Working at Miami High

Ms. Armas loves working at Miami High. “I always knew that I would come home. I wish I would’ve done it sooner. It’s kind of cool to be teaching among some of my former teachers,” she said. She hopes to retire as a Stingaree.

One thing she says is very different from when she was a student at Miami High are the students. She says it’s wonderful how kids are now more accepting of each other’s differences.

One challenge of moving from elementary to high school is “getting to work when the sun is still not out,” she said.

Miami High Alumna

Ms. Armas is a proud alumna that loves her school. Her favorite high school memory was being a majorette in the MDB, but she did not like all the high school girl drama. As a majorette, she was the manager which was equivalent to a treasurer.

As an adult now, she sees the importance of her high school classes. She loved her modern dance class due to Ms. Linder’s teaching, who “encouraged us to be creative and to let go with dance.” Even today, music plays a huge role in her life.

A member of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), she also found her accounting class important because it helped her with budgeting and money matters both personally and with the band. She graduated with a GPA of 3.0.

Personal Life

Ms. Armas was born on April 1^st, 1968, at Mercy Hospital. She attended Conchita Espinosa Academy, then Coral Way Elementary, followed by Shenandoah Junior High. “My parents were amazing and motivated me to follow my dreams,” she said.

She likes taking pictures of family, friends, band and guard. She likes exploring new cities, and she would like to travel the U.S. in an RV and stop along all the little towns. She also loves to read love stories and to decorate for the holidays.

She is a proud mom of twin boys: Andrew and Anthony, class of 2011 alumni. “I am their #1 fan,” she said.