Four-year-old Alejandro Miranda rushes toward the mirror with a clown mask as his mother, Alyssa Sanchez-Miranda, talks with Don Mondragon, a counselor and clown class teacher at Ernie Pyle Middle School. Sanchez-Miranda, a first-year teacher at Ernie Pyle, and her son like to visit Mondragon in his classroom. "He gives me strength and helps me keep plugging away when it gets stressful," Sanchez-Miranda said. "And I like being around the clowns."