Some people know Miami High’s social studies teacher Mr. Puentes as Sam or as the boys and girls volleyball coach or as the world history teacher or as the English teacher that came halfway during the 2022-2023 school year, or even as CAP Advisor Ms. Puentes’s son. They could all be right, but there are more things about him that you may not know about.
Teaching and Coaching Career
His childhood career goal was to be a marine biologist, but during his sophomore year, he wanted to become a history teacher. “I enjoyed history a lot, and I want to encourage others to enjoy history as well,” he said. Before he came to the school, he was cutting yards as a landscaper and if he wasn’t a teacher, he would still be cutting yards.
Getting to meet new students and being able to encourage them to enjoy history is his favorite thing about being a teacher. His not-so-favorite things about being a teacher are the
frustrating days, “but we get over them as teachers,” he said.
Mr. Puentes became a volleyball coach when he came back to Miami High and helped out if needed. “Being back on the court, helping players get better and doing something I love to do,” are his favorite parts about being a coach.
Since he was a volleyball kid and came back to coach volleyball, you would expect him to also become a band director, but he chose not to. “I would never become a band director because I don’t know that much about music unless it’s my instruments,” he said.
He believes teaching and coaching are similar. “We are always teaching something even if it’s in a classroom or on the court,” he said.
High School Life
Mr. Puentes is an alumnus from Class of 2019. His favorite class in high school was history.
While at Miami High, he was part of the volleyball team and the Million-Dollar Band. He played volleyball for 3 and a half years as a right side. “I joined volleyball because my older brother was playing,” he said.
He was in band for all 4 years. “I played band for 3 years since 6th grade, and from there I continued band in high school,” he said, “and all my friends were doing band as well.” He was also part of BETA from his freshman to junior year, and club-less his senior year.
“My favorite memory of high school was going to Sea World with the band during my junior year,” he said.
Early Childhood
Mr. Puentes was born on April 16, 2001, in Miami, Florida. For elementary and middle school, he went to Coral Way K-8.
“Growing up in the Puentes household was a lot of work, a lot of expectations, but overall full of love and happiness,” he said. “I have done a lot of learning from my childhood experiences.”
A core memory from his childhood is all the traveling they did. “We visited places like the Grand Canyon and New York City,” he said.
University/College
His top choices for university/college were Louisiana State University (LSU), Norte Dame, Florida International University (FIU), University of Florida (UF), University of Central Florida (UCF), and Florida State University (FSU). In the end, Mr. Puentes went to FIU for 4 years and studied history. He also continued playing band during his time there.
Future Plans
One big thing Mr. Puentes wants for his future is to make money and travel the world. He likes to travel because there are a lot of new cultures you can learn about and new places to see that have beautiful architecture and beautiful history.
He said, “Some places I would like to travel to are Switzerland, Germany, Norway, and
Iceland to see the Northern Lights.”
Small things he wants are healthy knees and small victories here and there. “Maybe I didn’t get my goal but I got a step closer so that is a victory,” he said.
Mr. Puentes expects to be here for a while until he gets his master’s degree in history at FIU. After that, he wants to teach European history at FIU.
