Huron High School welcomes Mark Ladonde as a new member of the teaching staff this school year. Starting Dec. 2, Ladonde has taken over the former position of Lauren Moon in the social studies department.
For the past four years of working at Huron High School, Moon has been teaching social studies, but recently has been working as the English Language lead teacher. Moon describes social studies as a subject that is constantly changing and evolving.
“Throughout the years, social studies has kind of been a moving target,” Moon said. “Depending on my students’ interests, and I think that’s a really nice feature of social studies, just because we can be so flexible and we can grow so much. I will say, in the last few years, especially here at Huron, we’ve focused more on social justice rather than dates and figures and facts.”
Having previous experience with ESL or English as a Second Language, when the position of English Language lead teacher opened up, Moon took over.
“I decided to leave the social studies position because the English Language lead teacher position opened up here, and I previously taught ESL, or English as a Second Language for seven years prior to coming to Huron,” Moon said. “I noticed that our goals, our support, for our ELL students could use a lot of support and help, so I wanted to be that person to help guide us through that change. It was a bit of a bummer to leave the social studies department because I do love my classes and my colleagues and my students so much, but I’m also excited for this new challenge.”
As of Dec. 10, Moon is both teaching and transitioning into her new role as English Language lead teacher.
“It’s been crazy because I’m still part teaching, part transitioning into the new job, but it’s also been fun,” Moon said. “I’ve started to meet new kids, which you don’t get to do in the middle of the year, so I’m growing the amount of students that I know. I’m working with departments that I’ve never worked before, so it’s been a really fun transition. It’s just been a little bit of a busy transition.”
An educator for 19 years, having taught at both middle and high schools, and being part of numerous leadership roles, Ladonde is experienced within the field of education. After working as a principal at Mitchell Elementary, Ladonde shifted to the social studies department of Huron High School in December of 2024.
“I just love teaching social studies, I had missed it since I left the classroom about 10 years ago, and I’ve really wanted to get back into it,” Ladonde said. “I also really value IB. I’ve worked at three IB schools, and I love that approach to learning. And so I was just really excited when an opportunity opened up here at Huron for me to transition back into the classroom.”
Since transitioning to Huron High School and going back to teaching in a classroom, Ladonde has enjoyed the experience.
“I really, really like the dynamic, and atmosphere within the school where there’s so many different programs and learning opportunities for students,” Ladonde said. “So I’m so excited to learn all about all the experiences students are having throughout the building, and just to find ways that I can support [students] within that [atmosphere], within my role as a teacher.”
Since working at Huron High School, the size of the school as well as the opportunities being presented to students has stood out to Ladonde.
“It’s a big school,” Ladonde said. “The biggest school I’ve worked in before was a middle school that has like 1200 kids, but it was in a different type of building. And so just to be in an environment where we have so many students, and again, with how many opportunities that come from having such a big school where there’s more programs and things kids can pursue. So I’m really excited to learn more about all the things that are going on here within the building.”
