Jerome School District and Jiffy Lube/Burton Group announce the Excellence in Education recipients for October 2023: Horizon Elementary School Teacher Joshua LaCroix; Jerome High School Teacher Karolyn Crockett; and Jerome School
District Maintenance Staff Member Antonio Sedano.
The Excellence in Education award recognizes the outstanding work by the staff in the district and schools. The Jerome School District Superintendent, along with a committee of representatives from each building, reviews nominations received by staff, parents, students and community members, and then each month selects 1 elementary certified, 1 secondary certified, and 1classified staff member consisting of para-professionals, maintenance, food service, secretaries, to receive the award.
Guidelines for selection are:
Recipients must be a current employee of the Jerome School District; for Certified Nominations: recipient must hold a valid Idaho teacher or pupil personnel certificate; for Classified Nominations: recipient must be employed in any non-certified position;
Administrators are not eligible for this recognition;
Students, parents, administrators, or fellow staff members may nominate the individual;
The recognition is for those who go above and beyond in making difference in the life of an individual student or lives of a group of students.
The Excellence in Education Award recipients for October, 2023 are:
Elementary certified recipient: Joshua LaCroix. With classroom experience of six years,
Joshua is currently a Third Grade Teacher at Horizon Elementary School, he was nominated
by an Elementary Teacher: Mr. LaCroix is an amazing teacher that creates an amazing
learning environment for students. His ability to make environments that help students relax
in higher stress situations like testing is unmatched. He goes out of his way for students that
are in need of a little help with anything from classroom work to friendship. Mr. LaCroix's
teaching style gives students piece of mind in the classroom allowing them to enjoy their
time at school and have more fun while learning. My daughter's school year during the Covid pandemic came with so many hardships in the classroom and she had a very hard time in school, she was stressed all the time worried about her testing and worried that she wouldn't d good in school again because she felt behind all the time. The next year she was placed into Mr. LaCroix class and she immediately began to relax in school. He would tell her everyday that she would have an amazing day and she did, he helped her grow to trust
herself and believe in herself. Her confidence grew every day because he would take the
time to help her when she looked worried or scared without being asked. He is one of the
best teachers I have ever dealt with and he has something special that I wish was in every
person.
Secondary certified recipient: Karolyn Crockett. As a Jerome High School Mathematics Teacher, Karolyn has taught for 17 years in Jerome with 6 years at Jerome High School, she was nominated by a co-worker: Karolyn attended the AVID conference in Seattle this summer but was initially put into the wrong group. She spent the first day with the wrong CoOp and had to play catch up on Day 2 and Day 3 with a separate CoOp. As a result, she missed the lesson plans and coaching that would have helped her teach AVID during the first three or four weeks of school. Despite this mix up, she powered through and poured enormous time and effort into making differentiated and appropriate curriculum for not just one AVID class but two different AVID classes of different age groups. In addition to learning and teaching on the go, she is continuing to teach dual-credit pre-Calculus for juniors and seniors. This means she is interacting with all age goups at the high school, and she adjusts her approach and teaching style throughout the day accordingly. Within the first week, she was greeting students as they came into her class by name, that is well over 100 names and faces put together in only a few days. She also helps numerous students on her prep hour as they come to her for additional instruction or questions. She has high expectations for her students, but she is clear and helpful in her teaching. I look to
her for help and advice as well as a listening ear and a sounding board for ideas. She always treats myself and other colleagues with respect, she is practical and thoughtful in her suggestions, and her positive attitude rubs off on all of us.
Classified staff recipient: Antonio Sedano. On the Jerome School District Maintenance Staff,
Antonio (Tony) has worked for the district for six years and was nominated by a school
administrator with these words: I have watched Tony as a maintenance worker around Jerome School District, and he is constantly going above and beyond for our schools. He is committed and hard working. Beyond his maintenance work, he is a deeply committed role model for our students. As a soccer coach, he is teaching his players so much more than the game of soccer: to be better people in life. I have spoken with two of his players that had made bad choices, and they both quoted Coach Sedano to first be respectful and do better. As a principal, that means so much more to me than soccer, and I appreciate that!!! Jerome School District, and Jerome Middle School, are better places with amazing people like Coach Sedano around, I wish we had more of him!!
The Excellence in Education Award program began in 2016 and continues through the 2023-2024 school year and has recognized the district’s outstanding teachers and classified staff each month, for a full list of award recipients contact the district office. The Jerome School District presents each recipient a plaque with a $50 gift card provided by Jiffy Lube/Burton Group at the monthly school board meetings.
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