Jorge Pulleiro, a World Language teacher at Wood River Middle School (WRMS), was named Idaho Teacher of the Year this morning. Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Sherri Ybarra, visited WRMS this morning to announce the honor, surprising Mr. Pulleiro and his students. Mr. Pulleiro teaches advanced Spanish classes at the school.
As Idaho’s Teacher of the Year he will travel across Idaho talking with other teachers, legislators, and policymakers about education in our state, meet with Teachers of the Year from other states, and serve as Idaho’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year.
Mr. Pulleiro has taught at Wood River Middle School since 2012. His principal, Mr. Peters states, “He has been a tireless advocate for the District’s students and its Dual Immersion Program.” He is a part of the World Language team that has worked to adopt new language standards to ensure students become bi-literate. Students test in essential standards of reading, writing, listening and speaking in Spanish as well as English, and student language skills are assessed on nationally normed measures.
Mr. 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, he founded the WRMS exchange program with Gredos de San Diego Schools in Madrid, Spain. Students from Spain visit WRMS each year for 3 to 4 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 gone on to incredible levels of language acquisition, earning college credit while in high school.
Mr. Pulleiro is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He received a B.A. in Spanish Translation and Interpretation from Brigham Young University, a Masters in Teacher Education from Eastern Oregon, and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Boise State University. Mr. Pulleiro served in the U.S. Army for six years and taught Spanish in Oregon before coming to Blaine County.
