Foreign Language
Laura Escalanti, 69
Died November 21, 2020.
Pojoaque Valley Middle School, Santa Fe, NM
Spanish and Tewa
They called her Miss Laura.
It was a term of reverence and resonance, befitting the quiet power of what one person could teach a community.
Laura Escalanti’s wisdom was imparted in classrooms through the strength of the Tewa language, said former students and northern pueblo community members who added that her time as a Spanish and Tewa teacher in the Pojoaque Valley School District can never be replicated.
Perhaps that’s why this has been one of the saddest weeks in a very sad year for those who knew her.
Escalanti, who spent 20 years as a teacher, imprinting the importance of culture on students in their formative years, died suddenly Nov. 21 of COVID-19 complications at Los Alamos Medical Center, said her daughter, Tree Escalanti.
Laura Escalanti was 69.
A beloved teacher who helped many Native American students connect with their culture through the Tewa language, Laura Escalanti’s contribution was critical in a school district that includes students from six pueblos.
“We lost a treasure,” said Joe Talachy, governor of Pojoaque Pueblo. “People like her are invaluable. It’s hard to find people with that kind of ambition, that kind of charisma and character that really gets through to our youth.”
Tree Escalanti said the community’s respect for her mother was never clearer than during a funeral procession from San Juan Pueblo to the church near her home in San Ildefenso Pueblo on Monday. Her body was accompanied by a police escort led by Talachy, with mourners standing on the shoulder of the roadway to honor a woman many in the community had known for years.
“It was just so amazing,” Tree said. “A lot of her students were lined up on the highway, there were staff [members from Pojoaque Valley middle and high schools], people from the community clapping for us. It was really amazing to see that.”
Tiffany Duran, who took Laura Escalanti’s Tewa class while she was in middle school in 2002, said she recalled the Friday feast days the teacher would hold, during which students wore their traditional clothing.
Laura Escalanti, Duran said, taught kids about their community’s culture through their language.
“Some kids, it seemed like they kinda wanted what we had because we had Miss Laura, who defended us and stuck up for us,” Duran said. “You’d catch the bus and nobody would put us down. … This is a hard loss.”
Duran said her son took Laura Escalanti’s class this year, and she credits the teacher with improving his self-esteem. Bullied for a time in elementary school because he had long hair, he’d made the decision to cut it short. But after being exposed to Laura Escalanti, he let it grow again, in part because of the pride he’d acquired through her teaching.
Still, there were limits, Duran said.
“Ms. Laura would tell him, ‘Pull those curtains aside. I want to see your face,’” Duran said. “She wanted to connect with you on a different level. She wanted you to understand our heritage and our language. If we don’t teach it to our children, we’ll never carry it on.”
Laura Escalanti came close to hitting that roadblock. She graduated from St. Catherine Indian School in 1968 and went on to the College of Santa Fe. But she dropped out when she was a senior to get married and moved to the Mescalero Apache Reservation. She lived there for the next 27 years before returning to Santa Fe in 1995 after a divorce.
Once back in the city, Laura Escalanti earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in multilingual/multicultural education. She taught at St. Catherine until 1998, then moved to Pojoaque Valley Middle School in 2000. She later earned another master’s degree in education administration from New Mexico State University.
“She really picked herself back up,” Tree Escalanti said. “To be able to tell that story about herself in front of kids, that’s what inspired them. That’s what made them want to show up for Miss Laura’s class. That’s why they stood on the side of the highway — they were losing their hero.”
Their hero was Tree Escalanti’s hero, too. She said watching her mother bed-ridden last week after being initially diagnosed with a sinus infection, crying in her arms, was devastating.
“It was very tragic,” Tree Escalanti said. “It has definitely shaken our school and our community. I still have parents emailing me about their kid because he won’t stop crying.”
Tree Escalanti said she is trying to remain strong because she sees how current students are taking Laura Escalanti’s death. She hopes she can be as much of a leader for them as her mother was.
“I try to keep that positivity when I think about my mother,” Tree Escalanti said. “And my heart remembers that it’s just a memory. I can’t get excited with her, but I am still going to be energetic and loud for her.”
Heidi Hussli, 47
Died September 17, 2020.
Bay Port High School, Green Bay, WI
German
Born on July 15, 1973 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin to parents Kim Derleth and Larry Hussli is survived by one sibling, her sister Heather Hussli.
Heidi graduated from Beaver Dam High School in 1991 During a high school trip to Germany, she fell in love with Germany, an enduring love she later shared with students. While attending The University of Wisconsin Green Bay where she studied German and secondary education, Heidi again took the opportunity to spend semesters studying in Germany. After graduating in 1997, my sister returned to Germany in 1998 where she studied German and Linguistics at Univeritat of Konstanz.
While studying in Germany in 1996, she met the love of her life Amir Nouri. They celebrated their love by marrying October 10, 2000 in Konstanz, Germany. While Amir worked to complete his architecture degree, Heidi began her educational career teaching English in a private school. As their relationship grew, so did their family, adding their son Kurosh in 2004.
Heidi enjoyed working with the Howard Suamico School District for16 years, teaching all levels of German. She thrived on students’ eagerness to learn and she encouraged them every step of the way. With an open-door environment, students knew they were welcome and safe in Heidi’s classroom; she truly cared about each student and would go to the ends of the earth to help them. Heidi fell in love with the German culture, language, and people on her first trip in high school. Coupling her passion for all things German and caring for her students, Heidi knew the power of life experiences outside the classroom. She played an integral part in bringing the German American Participation Program (GAPP) to Bay Port High School, a student exchange program with the Bondenwald Gymnasium in Hamburg, Germany. Over the years she, along with colleague Julie Kramer, shared the Germany she grew to know and love by taking a total of 83 Bay Port students to Germany to study at the Gymnasium for 2 weeks and then travel the entire country. Since 2006, 232 German students have attended Bay Port High School from Hamburg.
Outside the classroom, Heidi reveled in being a wife and mother to the two men she loved fiercely and fearlessly. Amir trusted his wife, doing things like white water rafting (despite not being able to swim well!) he knew Heidi, she loved him and would never let anything hurt him. Being a mom was her most treasured gift in life; she instilled perseverance, love, hard work, kindness and so much more to her son Kurosh. A special pride resided in Heidi, seeing her son embody compassion for others, a characteristic she believed central in life.
My wife loved and supported me in everything I wanted to do. The day I met her my whole world changed and I felt complete. She was the love of my life and always will be.
My sister was a warrior, refusing defeat and fighting through any obstacle she faced. Heidi loved her family, loved challenging herself, me and others, loved traveling abroad, loved visiting national parks, and loved life. She was my sister, rock, frozen fish specialist, confidant, and inspiration.
She is preceded in death by her mother, Kim Derleth who passed away just 19 days prior, on August 29, 2020, as well as her maternal and paternal grandparents, Aunt Carol Hartl and Uncle Frank Derleth.
Heidi is survived by her husband Amir, son Kurosh, her precious dog Leni, father Larry Hussli, sister Heather Hussli, her cousin tribe, Aunts Mel and Linda Derleth, Uncle Hank Derleth and many dear American and German friends.
Her mantra in life was “Bringt die Menschlichkeit zurück” translation “Bring Humanity Back”, please honor her in trying your best to do so.