After Pali Spanish teacher Laura Bachrach sustained injuries requiring 150 stitches in her mouth and face during a boating accident last month, the Pali community rallied to celebrate the contributions she has made in her three years of service to the World Language Department. 

The Associated Student Body (ASB) sent out a Schoology update on Feb. 17 giving students the opportunity to submit videos to be featured in a “get well soon” video for Bachrach. Senior and Vice President of ASB Selene Lam, who compiled the video, said that she “heard about [Bachrach’s injury] from her brother and wanted to send some love to her.”

Video submissions followed a ten-second maximum length requirement and were submitted to Lam via email. Once completed, the final video was then emailed to Bachrach on Feb. 21.

“Ms. Bachrach does an amazing job at highlighting the importance of being comfortable messing up or figuring things out, which really helps students improve,” said Javier Tiscareno, a sophomore in Bachrach’s Spanish 2 class.

Tiscareno, who was in Bachrach’s Spanish 1 class last year, said that she resumed teaching soon after her accident and has maintained the same level of rigor at a slightly slower pace with his class. “I was honestly just amazed by her commitment,” Tiscareno said. “Her confidence in me and her willingness to help is wonderful.”

He said that her virtual class has been very similar to how she conducted her class last year and that she continues to incorporate fun learning activities in the curriculum.

“I just hope Ms. Bachrach knows how much of an impact she makes by caring so much for her students,” Tiscareno said. “Her class is so memorable and she has made such a good impact on my life overall.”

World Language department chair Maggie Nance said that Bachrach has been instrumental in implementing standardized unit-based learning into all Pali Spanish classes.

“Having her as a resource has completely transformed our department in terms of what instruction is supposed to look like and how it works,” Nance said. “She holds me to this constant standard of excellence. She’s been transformational in terms of how to teach.”

Nance, known for her culinary skills, said that Bachrach “really knows the recipe” for effective instruction. “If you think of good teaching as a stew, she knows all the ingredients, and she knows the proportions, and she knows how it’s supposed to be.”