The Association for Career Technical Education of Arizona (ACTEAZ) announced its annual ACTEAZ award winners on May 25th, and DVUSD is proud to share that Mountain Ridge High School's Jeff "Mr. Sam" Samaniego won the Teacher Community Service Award - Sam Perikins. Samaniego is now the 5th DVUSD employee to win an ACTEAZ award since 2019.

The Teacher Community Service Award – Carl Perkins recognizes individuals who have used CTE to make a significant impact on their community and demonstrated leadership in programs and activities that promote student involvement in community service. 

Samaniego is a Glendale native and a product of DVUSD schools, graduating from Mountain Ridge in 2004. Samaniego has just completed his 10th year of teaching at Mountain Ridge, where he teaches marketing and advanced marketing while also serving as the department head and a DECA advisor. Mountain Ridge CTE programs have produced 22 state champions in the 2022-23 school year, accounting for 63% of the CTE state championships earned by DVUSD students. Many of those championships were earned in the marketing and DECA categories.

Samaniego will be honored at the ACTEAZ awards in Tuscon in July, and will then compete in the regional awards for Western states in April 2024. Congratulations again to Jeff Samaniego and the Mountain Ridge CTE department!