The Pasadena Tournament of Roses^®, along with the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation, celebrated the Big Day for Teachers on Tuesday, September 19, by honoring John Muir High School librarian and aquatics director Micol Issa with a $1,000 DonorsChoose gift card to use toward student resources. The Big Day for Teachers is a part of the CFP Foundation's Extra Yard for Teachers Week, which celebrates educators across the country.
 
Issa serves as the librarian, aquatics director and boys' and girls' water polo head coach at John Muir High School in Pasadena, Calif. Muir won its first-ever Boys' CIF Water Polo Championship in its first year back as a varsity sport, earning Issa CIF Division 6 Coach of the Year.
 
A graduate of Oberlin College, Issa has lived in Ohio, France, and began her teaching career in 2010 in Haiti. She is fluent in three languages and is trained in Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art and dance. Issa began teaching in the Pasadena Unified School District in 2016 and joined the staff at John Muir in the fall of 2020. 
 
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses President Alex Aghajanian presented Issa with the DonorsChoose gift card in a surprise visit to John Muir High School.
 
"We couldn't be more thrilled to celebrate Ms. Issa as a part of CFP Extra Yard for Teachers Week and the Big Day for Teachers," said Aghajanian. "It's great to see an educator so passionate about literacy and athletics. We are proud to support amazing teachers like Ms. Issa through our work with the CFP Foundation."
 
The CFP Foundation's Extra Yard for Teachers Week is a nine-day nationwide celebration from September 15-23 that honors and recognizes great teachers. Throughout the week, the college football community, including universities, conferences, bowl games and ESPN, goes out of its way to let teachers know they are valued and respected.