COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — An educator in Colorado Springs was chosen to represent the best of teaching while joining a national mission.
Dr. Amanda Trimillos was recently named a Department of Defense (DoD) STEM Ambassador for the 2025-26 school. Trimillos is the only teacher from the Centennial State to receive the honor and one of only 138 educators across the country to hold the title according to District 20. The DoD Ambassador program for teachers is a prestigious, service-driven honor that recognizes outstanding educators and invites them to be leaders, connectors, and champions for students—especially those in military-connected communities.
Dr. Trimillos is an English and Language Arts teacher at Eagleview Middle School, but her passion for STEM has also led her to be a FIRST LEGO League Robotics coach. She coaches three levels, an activity that Dr. Trimillos compares to athletics.
"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. Watching them go from just a handful of Legos, to building a robot that moves, that is 100 percent theirs."
FIRST LEGO League is a kids’ STEM program where small teams use LEGO robotics kits to build and program a robot to complete timed missions on a game mat. Each season has a real-world theme as teams also research a problem related to that theme and propose a creative solution. At tournaments teams run their robot, present their research, and are evaluated on teamwork and “Core Values” like collaboration and gracious professionalism. Coaches like Dr. Trimillos guide, but don’t do the work as the kids design, build, code, and present.
"All over the region, all over the world, these,these competitions are happening," Dr. Trimillos said of FIRST Lego League. "In Colorado,the top winners of the regions will go to state competition in December."
Dr. Trimillos' team will be competing this Saturday at Janitell Junior High School at regionals. One of the reasons she was selected as a DoD Ambassador is likely tied to her success in the past as a coach for this competition. She explained her team won about three years ago, taking both first and second place before competing in Houston.
"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."
An advantage Dr. Trimillos said her students have, the Air Force Academy is only about 15 minutes away and mentors from the Academy assist her team. They practice twice a week with a "build day" once a month.
Dr. Trimillos is now having an impact beyond just Colorado Springs. According to D-20, as a DoD ambassador, Dr. Trimillos is collaborating with STEM leaders across the nation, contributing to curriculum development, and sharing best practices. She recently visited Washington, D.C., to advance this work.
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