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This summer, Palmetto High School senior Madison (Maddie) Guillen was the caregiver to her mother, father and her 98-year-old abuelo (grandfather) when they all came down with COVID-19.
When in contact with them, Guillen kept herself safe by wearing three masks, a shield and gloves.
“I had to make meals for each person, three times a day, give them water, snacks, get medicine, clean the house constantly, take care of the two dogs, go grocery shopping and take care of myself so I didn’t get it,” she says.
It was a two-and-a-half-week ordeal that she had to deal with on her own and she was up to the job. It could be that Guillen’s training in early childhood helped her cope with the situation.
She’s in Palmetto’s Early Childhood Education program and worked for two years at Pinecrest Elementary as a teacher’s aide in their Pre-K program.
So far, she’s earned her DCF certificate that allows her to work in daycare. Now she’s working on the Childhood Development Associate certification which includes putting together a binder of lessons plans. She would have earned it by now but the school shutdowns because of COVID-19 slowed down the process. Before COVID-19, someone would have come and watched her in the classroom while she worked as a teacher’s assistant and then conducted an interview.
“Due to COVID-19, I’m not allowed to be a teacher’s aide,” she says. “They’ll probably do it over zoom and interview the teacher I was with for two years.”
She loved being a teacher’s aide.
“It was fun and rewarding to see them graduate to the kindergarten,” she says.
Guillen knew from an early age that she wanted to work with children. Since taking the early childhood classes, she’s refined her career goals. Now she plans to become a speech therapist for special needs children.
At Palmetto, she initiated a hurricane relief drive for the Bahamas to help those suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. In less than a week, Palmetto students donated 1000-2000 items that were sent to the islands.
“It was a whole classroom full of things like hand sanitizers, wipes, formula, canned goods, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo and conditioner,” she says.
She delivered the majority of the goods to a collection center in Palmetto Bay Park. The rest of the items were taken to a different collection center at Tropical Park.
For three years, Guillen played volleyball for Palmetto.
She was on the junior varsity as a freshman and sophomore. She was also a team captain in tenth grade. She moved to varsity in eleventh grade but she was injured part of the season, having injured the same ankle she broke in ninth grade. She was on crutches for six months the first time and four months the second time.
This year, she’s a varsity cheerleader.
“I love it. I’m training with my best friends in my last year of high school,” she says. “I wanted to be involved. We get to do football games, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. We get to do basketball games and pep rallies.”
For community service, Guillen volunteered at the Friendship Circle Equestrian Program.
“It’s a place for special needs children to go,” she says. “I got paired up with a buddy. I walked along beside them while they were on the horse.”
Guillen plans to stay in state for college. She’s applying to Florida Atlantic University, Florida State University, the University of Central Florida, Florida International Florida Gulf Coast University.
Linda Rodriquez Bernfeld
