Pablo Flores, ELL Bilingual Paraeducator at Naval Avenue is an honoree for the 2021 Leadership Kitsap 20 Under 40 Awards.
Leadership Kitsap’s 20 Under 40 Awards Program seeks to identify and celebrate exceptional business leaders under the age of 40 who are dynamic trailblazers in the Kitsap community. We want to share their stories and celebrate their successes, bringing these individuals together to grow into a powerful network of young leaders who can then leverage that network to make even more great contributions to our region’s economy and civic dialog.
Pablo is always quick to provide help and support for families and staff members. His ability to assess a situation and then identify the resources needed to resolve the problem have been influential in supporting non English speaking families, as well as the wider school community.
From the first day Pablo began working with students in Bremerton, he has developed positive relationships with staff, students, families, and has continued to go above and beyond to help students succeed. Pablo has collaborated with teachers and staff to understand students’ needs and to provide appropriate learning opportunities. However, Pablo has exceeded expectations- staying after school to provide extended learning activities for students, working at parent nights to build the family-school connection, as well as bringing in his musical abilities to help students learn through the power of music. Pablo works with teachers to integrate music and song into their lessons. Once school moved to Connected Learning online, Pablo continued this work by creating videos for teachers to use to enhance their lessons and help students continue to feel a part of the classroom community. (This is a video from a recent virtual sing-along Dolphin Club at Naval Avenue Early Learning Center. Pablo is in the plaid shirt.)
In addition, Pablo used his tech skills to help the greater school district community by providing translations in Spanish to help parents and families navigate the changes in schooling and learn how to use their new at-home tech devices, and producing how-to videos for Spanish families as well as people who speak a native Myan language (video).
Before coming to Bremerton Pablo was a film composer & music producer. He has a Bachelor in Arts in film scoring and music performance from the Berklee College of Music and is working on earning a Master of Arts in Music Technology from Southern Utah University. He is a skilled multi-instrumentalist gifted in both teaching and performing his own original work as well as the work of others. In his down time he enjoys going to the movies, and going on trips with his family, including his two daughters.
Pablo was also instrumental (no pun intended) in establishing the Kitsap Musicians Project that produced two successful BKAT music television shows, showcasing local musicians, to raise money for the United Way and local families impacted by COVID. He both performed in and produced the events.
Pablo’s “why” for working in education: “I work on education to make a difference in the kid's lives, especially in the lives of immigrant's kids. I myself am an immigrant from Ecuador.”
Pablo is described by his colleagues as a tireless Bremerton School District community servant who exudes positivity, empathy, kindness, joy and grace in all that he does.
Pablo will be honored at an event at the Kitsap Conference Center, Bremerton Harborside May 27, 2021, 5:30-8:30pm. Both in-person and virtual ticket options are available. https://2021LK20under40.bpt.me (we will share photos from the event in a future newsletter).
Congratulations, Pablo.
