Los Lunas Schools Teacher of the Year: Jessica Baldonado

LOS LUNAS—Los Lunas High School English and service learning teacher Jessica Baldonado was recently recognized as Los Lunas Schools’ District Teacher of the Year.

“I love Los Lunas High School,” Baldonado said. “I think the technology is amazing they offer the students and, of course, I love my students.”

Baldonado has been teaching for 25 years. She got her start at Belen Consolidated Schools, where she worked for 17 years with most of that time being dedicated to teaching middle-schoolers.

In 2016, she joined LLHS, where she teaches freshmen primarily.

“I love middle school, so I think that’s why I gravitate towards ninth-graders because they remind me of my middle school years,” she said.

At LLHS, Baldonado is also a teacher mentor and sponsor of the school’s community service club, Lending a Paw, formed in 2019.

“I like supporting and helping teachers and Lending a Paw really has brought together people at our school,” she said. “We’ve done over 150 projects now, and I think it really helped to change the community’s idea of teenagers.”

Baldonado said she always knew she was going to be a teacher ever since she was young, and she never questioned it or switched her pathway. She said what brings her the most joy in teaching is the connections she makes with students.

“I love building a relationship with them and getting to know them,” said Baldonado. “In order to get to the teaching part, you have to go through the relationship part, so I love building that with them.”

When it comes to inspiring students to learn, Baldonado emphasizes mutual respect.

“Respect is going to be mutual from the beginning and showing them right away that they are young adults to me so I’m going to treat them that way,” said Baldonado. “You learn throughout the years not to make assumptions about their behavior, lack of work ethic because it really is always something personal to them, so being able to find out what their motivation is helps in the classroom.”

Baldonado also makes it a point to enrich her students’ education by keeping the bar high.

“I think I have a challenging class academically,” she said. “I have extremely high expectations from 25 years ago till now for my students, and they always seem to meet those expectations.”

While Baldonado said she is not seeking any rewards or accolades, she said it is nice to be recognized, especially since this year her peers got to pick the Teacher of the Year.

She also wants to recognize her amazing colleagues who have encouraged her along the way and all the support from her family.

“Especially the support of my two daughters over the years, helping with school and club projects,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to dedicate myself so fully without them!”

Los Lunas Schools Site Teachers of the Year

Amanda Kreiner: Valencia Elementary

Andrea Rael: Ann Parish Elementary

Angelina Muncy: Los Lunas Elementary

Brenda Cox: Desert View Elementary

Cheyenna Yates: Sundance Elementary

Donna Everett: Los Lunas Middle School

Edric Chavez: Valencia Middle School

Flor Ogaz: Tomé Elementary

Irene Berni-Lente: Century High School

Kathleen Corbin: Los Lunas Family School Digital Academy

Martha Navarro: Valencia High School

Michelle Krylowicz: Bosque Farms Elementary

Rachel Goar: Peralta Elementary

Suzanne Cox: Raymond Gabaldon Elementary

Vinnessa Ohle: Katherine Gallegos Elementary