Thoughts from staff and students on the passing of Luis Pla, Principal of St. Mary - Collinwood

4th grade thoughts:

“Mr. Pla was a very loving and caring principal. We will always keep him in our hearts.”

“Mr. Pla was a great man, he always gave me credit when I told the truth. He made me feel better when I talked to him. He really cared about the students at St. Mary's. We had a personal relationship. I really liked Mr. Pla and I hope he is in heaven looking down on us.”

“Mr. Pla was a hard worker for us. He gave up his time if we needed help from him. I know he is watching over us making sure we do the right thing and making sure we do well in school. He wanted to make sure we all did good in school so we can go to high school and college. So just for him I'm going to do my best in school.

5th Grade thoughts:

"Mr. Pla loved the kids at St Mary Collinwood. He'd do anything he could to help and protect them"

8th Grade thoughts:

“Mr. Pla could be a bit rough sometimes, but you always knew he cared. He just wanted the best for all of us.”

“This school wouldn’t be here without Mr. Pla. He worked hard to get us computers and new books and stuff.”

Staff Reflections:

“Luis could be tough to work with sometimes. He was highly demanding and would expect nothing less than perfection. That being said, you always knew that he had the best interest of the students in mind. That is why he pushed so hard. Education is not a job where you can put things off, you must always be on top of all the various tasks at hand. Luis made sure that happened.”

“Luis gave me my first job as a teacher. He served as a mentor for me to learn from and provided me with an excellent environment to start my career.”

“The memory of Luis will always be in these halls. He is a part of this place. There are so many things I see in the building and on the grounds that remind me of him and all he did. All the educational technology he worked so hard to acquire for the students, the beautiful addition he tirelessly saw through to completion; it’s like he left little pieces of himself.”