ATHENS — There’s nothing virtual about the national recognition a local teacher was recently awarded, and there is hardware to show for it.

The National Association of Biology Teachers selected Alabama Connections Academy teacher Enya Granados for its 2021 Outstanding Biology New Teacher Achievement Award — one of nearly a dozen awards the organization gives out annually. Among the award winners, Granados was the only online educator and the only teacher from Alabama to be recognized.

The award, according to the organization, acknowledges “outstanding teaching in grades 7-12 by a ‘new’ biology/life science instructor within their first three years of teaching, when nominated, who has developed an original and outstanding program or technique and made a contribution to the profession at the start of their career.”

In granting the award, the organization recognized Granados’ “unique instructional approach aimed at keeping students engaged and making them feel seen and heard” — something the educator works hard at in her teaching.

“In my classroom, I use phenomena-based and storyline units that center real-world issues as a way to be culturally responsive,” Granados said. “I am constantly inquiring into my practice and teaching frameworks for ways to make my curriculum and teaching more justice-oriented.”

Granados is a biology teacher at Alabama Connections Academy, a tuition-free Alabama online public school which employs state-certified teachers specially trained in online learning. The school is fully virtual. Granados previously taught pre-AP biology, biology and environmental science at Russell County High School.

The NABT award includes a travel fellowship and a recognition plaque she received at the NABT Professional Development Conference.

The educator’s teaching philosophy highlights the concern that there are “a lot of gaps and opportunities in life science, both in the representation of identities and curriculum.”

“My future goals are to become a teacher leader within nationwide organizations and within my school to help schools and teachers become more anti-racist and inclusive by making spaces and opportunities for teachers (and students) to talk and work together,” Granados said. “Additionally, I want to change the biology curriculum to become more inclusive of identities — and the ways that we teach and talk about identities — as they pertain to race, class, ability, sexuality and gender. I have so much more learning and growing to do and am excited for what the future might hold.”