Indiana's 2025 Teacher of the Year, Graciela Miranda, will be honored on-field during the College Football Playoff National Championship game in Miami.The honor adds extra excitement to her professional development trip as her b eloved Indiana University Hoosiers compete for the title.Miranda, who teaches second language learners at Pike High School on Indianapolis' northwest side, is among teachers from across the country attending the College Football Playoff Foundation's Extra Yard for Teachers Summit, a free professional development event. "24 years into teaching, it still brings me excitement to come and bring my best self to the students," Miranda said.The timing couldn't be better for the longtime IU fan, who worked briefly for the university and has family ties to the school."We're big IU fans at the house, so go IU!" Miranda said, sporting her Indiana sweatshirt. "I told all my friends I'm going to be wearing red IU stuff every single day, so yes, be prepared. My daughter went to IU Bloomington, so she graduated there, and so did my nephew." When asked what she's looking forward to most about the trip, Miranda didn't hesitate."The win, the IU win! That's what I'm excited about the most. I know they're gonna win. I know it!" she said.The recognition comes after what Miranda describes as a life-changing year as Teacher of the Year. "This is for our community and for all the teachers that are doing amazing work. I represent teachers, families and students and my Pike community," she said.Britton Banowsky, executive director of the College Football Playoff Foundation, emphasized the importance of recognizing educators."We believe that without a good teacher or a great teacher in a classroom, we're not gonna have really good student achievement, and without student achievement, we're not gonna have great communities, our workforce won't be trained, and so we think it all starts with the teachers," Banowsky said. The CFP Foundation's primary cause is K-12 education. Ahead of the championship game in Indianapolis in 2022, the foundation helped fund the Indiana Learning Lab, a resource still used today."It's a place where teachers from all over the state can go to get resources," Banowsky said.The CFP Foundation began honoring teachers in 2014 when it was formed with the introduction of the new playoff system. So far, the foundation has invested $92 million in support of education, benefitting 81,000 schools. ...read more read less