We are saddened to say that West Boca High school has lost an amazing teacher. Mr. Lawrence Bradford was a kind, caring, irreplaceable man. He was truly the sweetest soul.

Staff and students all around West Boca High School created deep connections with him over the years; especially one of the heads of the Social Studies department, Mrs. Jacques. 

She has expressed that “everyone in our Social Studies department loved working with Mr. Bradford. He was generous with his time and resources and would do anything to help his students and colleagues. Mr. Bluhm, Mr. Milos and I hung out together in our hallway between classes. We’ve had many diverse conversations over the past nine years. Many were political. It was Mr. Milos and Mr. Bluhm taking sides against me and Mr. Bradford. Fortunately, Mr. Bradford and I were simpatico. I considered him “my wingman”.  He was my voice of reason and could back up many arguments with facts. I was proud to know him and will miss him very much.” Not only did Mrs. Jacques speak about this but West Boca High School’s principal, Mr. Capitano did as well. In his email he sent out to parents and staff, he stated “Mr. Bradford has been a foundational presence on this campus and has always shown a tremendous amount of patience and grace with his students. Always one to offer a helping hand, he loved inspiring his students by sharing a genuine passion for history.”

To add, Mr. Bradford’s former students have asked how they can honor him and decided to write letters to his loved ones to express how much he has impacted the process of learning. On top of that, students have also expressed their love towards Mr. Bradford by submitting positive thoughts about him.

Mason Fineman: “He was a really funny teacher and really made learning fun. He made a major impact on me when he told me not to stress about grades and that one day this will all be a memory.”

Matthew Vicentini: “One of greatest teachers that taught me everything I needed to know about U.S History. Knew everything he was talking about without even needing to read it. Rest in peace Mr.Bradford.”

Christine Ham: “He was very lively and positive and enthusiastic towards his career. He was also passionate toward his students.”

Sofia Ramos: “Mr. Bradford was my sophomore year history teacher, which is one of the best classes I’ve taken since I came to this school. He was always really nice and cared for everyone, he didn’t like anyone failing and kept giving them second chances so that their grades wouldn’t drop. He used to give us lollipops or candy every time we turned our tests in because he said that he already did something good by trying and turning in our tests…”

Natanel Abergel: “He was a really great guy. He would always make jokes and give us lollipops after every quiz or test.”

Nicolle Franklin: “Mr. Bradford was my US history teacher in 10th grade during the year 2022-2023. I had his class everyday in 5th period. His class was my favorite class of the day. He was so good and passionate at his job. He was one of the best teachers I ever had. Never once I was sleepy or bored in his class. All the work we did, he would go over them and make sure we understood every concept. He was very kind and generous, offering us lollipops to encourage us to work harder. Always had jokes to say, told us stories about his past and when he was young. He is the reason why I did so well on the history EOC and why I love US history so much. His memory will always be remembered by me.”

Ivanna Marrero Guillen: “Mr. Bradford really was an amazing teacher, making sure to have his students on the same page and get them caught up if they needed to. He would always make the class laugh and have fun while teaching. Mr. Bradford wouldn’t exclude anyone, he had everyone participate, he was very joyful, caring and funny.”

I personally had Mr. Bradford as a teacher; he would always spread so much positivity. He was especially positive with his silly dad jokes. He made learning easy. I hope he enjoys his Dum Dum lollipops up there with us down here.

We will all miss him very much.