LifeChanger of the Year Profile | National Life Group

Washington Collado was nominated by his colleague, Maria Scher.

"Dr. Collado is the principal of a school I worked in for 11 years," said Scher. "He became our Principal during my second year. Dr. Collado is a family man, and he treated all of us like his own family. The door to his office was always open for anyone who wanted to stop by, ask for help, complain, or say hello. He made sure his Open Door policy was available for everyone, without distinction of level or position."

When a flood happened in his school, Dr. Collado was on the front lines helping custodians to clean up the mess. This influenced many of his staff members to get involved and work as a team. He never puts himself in a superior position because he's a principal. His commitment to his school, students, and parents is beyond expectations. He's always willing to stay after school hours to speak to a parent or wait for a student to be picked up.

"Dr. Collado has so many wonderful qualities that we learned to admire," said Scher. "His charisma reminds me of President Obama. He's always calm, which brought a peaceful work environment to all of us."

"I'm so grateful to Dr. Collado for the time when my family and I lost everything due to defective drywall," said Scher. "He accommodated my schedule so I could car pool with my husband, which gave us a chance to minimize our huge financial loss. It was a small gesture from him that changed our lives and helped us big time. For that, my husband and I are forever grateful."

The challenges life brought Dr. Collado made him stronger. He graciously continued his journey and celebrated his victories, most recently earning his doctoral degree. He is easy to talk to, generous, down to earth, and always willing to do anything possible to help his school and his community, here and abroad.

"Dr. Collado is an example of being able to do anything you put your mind to," said Scher. "He is the perfect example of a LifeChanger!"

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Christy Maynard Posted over a year ago

Mr. Collado was principal of the school that I was lucky enough to be a clerical worker at. During that time I developed cancer and that man was the most compassionate and understanding principal I could have asked for he made me want to come to work every day even though he said I could do anything to take care of my health and he would understand he was always there for us in a personal way without getting into your business you just knew his door was always open and he was there for you. He definitely is a nominee of a life changer

Yardly Franklin Posted over a year ago

Mr. Collado was my administrator for five years or so. During those years, he was a super boss and took it to heart to communicate any change in directive well before it comes into effect. For example, when making decisions, he takes the trouble to explain the reason and what the expectations are. He excels in making sense of even the most repetitive tasks. My duties at that time went beyond the pure and hard stage, but Mr. Collado had an open-door policy that if you had any issue, you could walk in and have a talk. He would give me a few words of encouragement and share stories of his life that were comforting. No one likes to work without this little extra motivation to do their best. As an employee, I admire an administrator that makes sense of what everyone does. I remember once we had an issue in our department, he had a meeting with us. At that meeting, Mr. Collado helped us understand what we do every day and why we do it, what we contribute to improving the daily lives of the students, how we enhance the image of the school and department, and how we help the ESE community. What I admire the most about Mr. Collado is he will not skimp with little words of encouragement or expressions of interest. To him, moments of informal discussion are much more important than more formal meetings or evaluations. He appreciates the person behind the worker. In general, he was consistent, reliable, and impartial. He treats everyone with nuance but remains honest with everyone. He takes care of his communication to demonstrate his consistency and his refusal of favoritism. I like to work for people I admire and respect and who appreciate and respect me too. And Mr. Collado was that person.

LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Washington Collado

Comments (2)

Christy Maynard Posted over a year ago

Yardly Franklin Posted over a year ago