Within recent years, Palm Desert High School has welcomed a fresh batch of new teachers to campus. Among these is Louis Benedetto, retired baker turned math teacher originally from New York, with a Jerry Seinfeld-esque attitude to show for it. Such a transition from across the country begs the question… how did he even wind up here? That's exactly what I asked Benedetto when I sat down with him in an interview, curious to learn more about the tales of his travels.
It all began about 10 years ago, when Benedetto worked as a baker and pastry chef in the state of New York. With 4 kids, a house, and a wife, moving across the country wasn't exactly in the books for the Benedetto family. His story really begins when Benedetto decided he wanted to go back to school to become a teacher, with math always being a subject of interest for him. He went back to school to get the proper credentials to teach, but teachers weren't exactly being sought after at the time. With that, he returned to baking.
Meanwhile, his wife's family decided to spontaneously move out to the humble hills of the Coachella Valley for retirement. Benedetto remained a baker in New York with the hope of eventually securing a job as a teacher. However, things started to look up when Benedetto's mother-in-law developed a connection to Sherry Johnston, assistant superintendent working at Desert Sands Unified School District. Through a game of telephone, Bendetto’s mother-in-law put in a good word for Benedetto to her coworker who happened to know Johnston. As luck would have it, there were several teaching positions open, ready to be snatched up.
From there, Benedetto flew out to the desert to be interviewed. "So I called [Sherry Johnston] in the summer," Benedetto recalls, "and she said, 'I do have a job for you, as a math teacher, but you have to be out here August 15th.' And it was July, and I lived in New York, with a house, and four kids, and my wife had a job… so I said, 'yeah, I'll take that job!'" Before he knew it, Benedetto finally secured a job at La Quinta High School as a math teacher in 2012. Eventually, he moved himself and his family out of New York to start a new life in the Coachella Valley.
As of the 2021-2022 school year, Benedetto has made his debut as a new math teacher at Palm Desert High School, with the campus being much closer to where he resides in comparison to where he previously worked at La Quinta High School. Of course, I had to ask the big question: does Benedetto prefer Palm Desert to La Quinta? To this, he responded, "I think the kids are basically the same, they're high school kids… But I found great people in both places. I mean, I was at La Quinta for 9 years, and I've only been here a year, so I don't know everyone here yet. But, everyone's been super friendly and helpful. It's nice to go somewhere where everyone is nice to you right off the bat. So… so far, so good."
Without a doubt, students of Mr.Benedetto have welcomed him with open arms to Palm Desert High School. Being a former student of his myself, I can confidently say he's a fantastic teacher and likely an even better baker, and he never fails to bear a striking resemblance to Jerry Seinfeld. Through his nonchalant attitude and humor lies a caring teacher that truly wants his students to succeed and have a good time in his class.