Lucerne Valley Middle High School history teacher Louis Madrid and bilingual instructional aide Karla Palacios were named Employees of the Month at last Thursday’s Lucerne Valley USD Board of Trustees meeting. Superintendent Peter Livingston presented the awards followed by congratulations from the five school board members. Mr. Livingston read nomination letters and added his own comments.
Certificated - Louis Madrid
“Louis Madrid was an easy selection,” wrote his nominator, LVMHS Principal Kelly Boeing. “Much like in the interview process, Louis leads. When we looked at his resume, Nate Lambdin exclaimed, ‘Go Bruins!, a UCLA fan to his core. Kelly Boeing saw ‘Combat vet’ and thought, ‘fully equipped, prepared, and trained for middle school students!’
“Louis started teaching when we were all virtual, his first evaluation done via Zoom, and he rocked it. When many struggled with this portion of shutdown, Louis went in and gained the students' attention and their respect. When we returned to in person teaching, or started in person teaching for Louis, he had an almost celebrity status with the kids. ‘Look, that’s him, I think that’s him. He is taller than I thought. Hey, hi, Mr. Madrid!’
“These are some of the first things the kids said when seeing Mr. Madrid on campus for the first time, as opposed to the little tile on their Chromebook. However, when they walked into his class for the first time there were a lot more of the, ‘Oh, wow!’ and ‘How cool!’ Mr. Madrid has authentic and replica historical artifacts that are set-up in stations with QR Codes so that the students can scan the QR codes and get information about them. Mr. Madrid’s passion for history is evident by his lessons and the way that he brings it to the kids and presents it.
“He is also incredibly dedicated to the kids and trying to grow himself in order to support them more. When we lost our girls in June, the crisis counselors shared that they were going to offer training for interested members of our staff in order to become on-site grief counselors. Mr. Madrid, recently reached out to request this training.
“When we were in between commandants for Cadet Corps, Louis Madrid was right there, offering support to the cadets and offering support to whomever stepped into that role. When esports was brought to the campus, Madrid took on that challenge, created a curriculum, ordered the systems, helped set-up the infrastructure, and helped to start paving the way for a new pathway for Lucerne Valley students. This year Louis has also stepped into the role of Asst. Baseball coach. Continuing to dedicate his time in the support of LV kids.”
Classified - Karla Palacios
Lucerne Valley Elementary School administrators glowed about Karla Palacios:
“Karla currently works as one of our bilingual instructional aides and does many duties, and works with students in a one-on-one capacity. While on campus, Karla assists the front office with translating in the early morning and helping EL students in small group and classroom push-in settings. Recently she has worked with Mrs. Hirschhorn on administering the ELPAC testing for our EL students. She also works after school, assisting the Afterschool All-Stars program.
“Karla is very cordial and friendly to all staff members. She is punctual and always comes to work with a positive attitude and an eagerness to help anyone in need. Parents enjoy talking with her, and the students enjoy working with her. Karla has been extremely helpful in translating conversations with parents and assisting in document translation for flyers and IEP paperwork. She has been a great addition to our staff and a friendly liaison for parents in the school community.”
From left to right, Superintendent Peter Livingston, school board member Tom Courtney, school board vice-president Chelsea LaGrange, Louis Madrid, Karla Palacios, school board secretary Jason Hansen and school board member Jim Harvey. Photo by Doug Beaton