**Headline: Eagleview Middle School Teacher Named Sole Colorado DoD STEM Ambassador for Robotics Leadership**

**COLORADO SPRINGS, CO** – An English and Language Arts teacher from Eagleview Middle School has earned a prestigious national honor for her work in a field she never expected to enter: robotics. Dr. Amanda Trimillos of District 20 has been named a Department of Defense (DoD) STEM Ambassador for the 2025-26 school year, a recognition of her outstanding contributions to STEM education and her success as a celebrated robotics coach.

Dr. Trimillos stands as the only teacher from Colorado to receive the DoD STEM Ambassador title this year, joining an elite group of just 138 educators from across the country. The honor highlights her dedication to fostering innovation and technical skills among her students through the FIRST LEGO League Robotics program.

Despite her background in literature and composition, Dr. Trimillos has found a unique and powerful synergy in coaching robotics.

“I chuckle a little bit,” Dr. Trimillos said with a smile. “My background is language arts. I’m not a STEM teacher. I’m a language arts teacher, but I’m a robotics coach. And so being able to see my two worlds of teaching students how to read and write and analyze and interview… paired together with STEM in the engineering process is a perfect combination.”

Her leadership has cultivated an environment of intense excitement and achievement. She describes the robotics competitions as having the same electric atmosphere as major sporting events.

“They run these competitions like sports teams,” Dr. Trimillos explained. “You would never know that this was a STEM or engineering, the vibe that’s in the room and the excitement that’s in the room.”

The journey from a simple concept to a functioning machine is what she finds most rewarding. “Watching them go from just a handful of Legos, to building a robot that moves, that is 100 percent theirs,” she added.

This dedication has yielded impressive results. About three years ago, her teams achieved a remarkable victory, taking both first and second place at a regional competition, which earned them a spot to compete at the international event in Houston. The program’s success is also bolstered by community expertise, with mentors from the nearby Air Force Academy lending their knowledge to assist the team.

The FIRST LEGO League, as Dr. Trimillos notes, is a significant global phenomenon. “All over the region, all over the world, these, these competitions are happening,” she said.

The next challenge for Dr. Trimillos and her team is just around the corner. They are set to compete in the upcoming regional tournament, which will be held at Janitell Junior High School.