Valley honors ‘Teacher of Year,’ 40-year nurse
By Eric Valentine
Often lost in the daily reporting of COVID numbers and sometimes forgotten in the 24/7 news cycle of higher-profile healthcare givers and receivers is the fact that in communities like the Wood River Valley there are scores of frontline workers going unheralded. Well, not recently, in a couple of instances at least.
In recent days, both a local educator and nurse were honored for a career in two industries on the frontlines of keeping society—essentially—functioning. Jorge Pulleiro, a world language teacher at Wood River Middle School (WRMS), was named Idaho Teacher of the Year, and Barb Scher, a nurse at St. Luke’s Wood River, was celebrated by staff upon retiring after 47 years of working in healthcare.
For Pulleiro, it is another accomplishment in what is already an impressive career. For Scher, it puts to bed a career that saw everything from the emergence of the AIDS epidemic to the peak of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The Teacher and a Ruse
Pulleiro has taught Spanish at the middle school since 2012 and is part of the dual immersion world language team that helps students become biliterate. Last week, he was asked to leave that classroom for a few minutes and speak off the cuff about dual immersion at a principals’ conference being held on campus. It was a ruse.
Pulleiro got to the meeting, began speaking about dual immersion, and then Sherri Ybarra, the Superintendent of Public Instruction for Idaho, appeared. She announced that Pulleiro had been named the state’s Teacher of the Year.
“I saw my wife and my daughter come out with a check and a plaque,” Pulleiro recalled. “I was an emotional wreck.”
The award means Pulleiro now will travel across Idaho talking with other teachers, legislators and policymakers about education in the state, meet with Teachers of the Year from other states, and serve as Idaho’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year.
Even a cursory look at Pulleiro’s career reveals how he got there.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pulleiro received a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish Translation and Interpretation from Brigham Young University, a master’s in Teacher Education from Eastern Oregon, and a master’s in Educational Leadership from Boise State University. He also served in the U.S. Army for six years, part of it in Heidelberg, Germany, which he describes as some of the best years of his life.
“I wanted to give back to my country and I thought what better way than to serve in the best military in the world,” Pulleiro said.
Pulleiro also enriches the experiences of his students beyond the classroom. He is a strong advocate for and active participant in the Latino community in Blaine County. He facilitates the involvement of Spanish-speaking families in the Blaine County School District. He serves on the Latino Staff Advisory Committee and has been instrumental in planning the Conferencia Educativa Para Padres for our Spanish-speaking parents, also serving as a conference presenter.
In 2014, Pulleiro founded the WRMS exchange program with Gredos de San Diego Schools in Madrid, Spain. Students from Spain visit WRMS each year for three to four weeks to be immersed in school and family life here in Blaine County. In addition, well over 100 students from WRMS have traveled to Spain for three weeks of immersion there. These students have received language acquisition while earning college credit during high school.
Today, Pulleiro has a legacy at WRMS, literally. Last school year his daughter was hired to teach Spanish there, too.
“But I’m not her boss. We are colleagues and it’s great,” Pulleiro said. “I was never expecting my daughter to become a language teacher.”
Bullied as a child, Pulleiro said it was in the third grade he realized he wanted to teach.
“My third-grade teacher was a terrific example for me. I’ve always suffered from bullying from peers and even from teachers, but my third-grade teacher was compassionate, loving, and caring. She made a huge difference in my life because she believed in me and let me know that I could have a bright future,” Pulleiro said.
What makes Pulleiro’s style unique is how he doesn’t just teach language, he exposes students to culture, letting language come to life.
“When it’s time to learn the culture, we don’t just read about it. We live it! My students will be found sharing a dish they cooked at home with their peers at school. We don’t just read about a particular country’s music. We get up and learn how to dance that country’s national dance,” Pulleiro explained.
So what’s next for Pulleiro? He says being an administrator is one potential course, which is why he earned his master’s degree in Educational Leadership. But Pulleiro says he’ll know when the right opportunity comes along and what will make it right.
“I want to be a co-teacher. It’s a little bit different than how we think of administrators. When I became an officer in the military, I rolled up my sleeves and I worked closely with the enlisted. I love the classroom and I don’t want to ever completely leave that,” Pulleiro said.
The Nurse and Her Doctor
Barb Scher started her career as a nursing assistant in high school, went on to get her medical assistant certificate, and continued on to become a full-fledged registered nurse. Since June 1988, Scher worked for Dr. Kathryn Woods.
“Dr. Woods had just come to town to start her family practice, and married Dr. Paris. Back then, each doctor had their own nurse. So, it was a wonderful way to really grow and nurture patient care. We were always a team and that was one of the nicest parts of working together,” Scher said. “I saw Dr. Woods deliver many, many babies and we took care of a lot of kids as they were growing up. And now we even get to see third generations. It was wonderful to be a nurse all these years.”
At Scher’s retirement party last month, Woods was there.
“Working side by side with Barb Scher for 30 years has been a rich journey. Her sincere, loving and caring manner has benefited our patients every day, every visit or phone call. Patients would leave their appointment knowing they had been heard and understood,” Woods said.
Not only has Scher dedicated her career to taking care of others, she has also volunteered outside the job. When St. Luke’s offered “Healing Touch” training, she eagerly participated.
The next stage of Scher’s life figures to be spent on her new mountain bike with her husband, Jerome, Scher said.