Alcorta Elementary teacher goes above & beyond

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) — Teachers can have a lasting impact on students, and one 5th-grade teacher at Alcorta Elementary hopes to do just that.

In Mr. Santoya’s classroom, you can expect encouragement and fun facts. Alfonso Santoya is the first American born to his family, which is originally from Cuba. Not knowing English as a child, he struggled in the classroom until he met his second-grade teacher.

“She just said, ‘I will coach him, I will teach him, I’ll tutor him, I’ll teach him English, I’ll teach him how to read.’ She taught me every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. She would also take me home,” Santoya recalled. “I can speak to you right now. I can read. I can do all these things. That teacher would talk to me for hours and made me feel reassured and poured into me. Nothing could ever describe that connection.”

That teacher inspired him to help others and mentor his students.

“They come here, and this is their only source of socialization, communication, and fun. This is a time to kind of teach them right now, this developmental time right now is to set them up for the rest of their life,” Santoya said.

Campus principal Michele Josselet said that once Santoya stepped on campus, she knew he was going to make a difference in students’ lives.

“The first few weeks, just going into his classroom, just seeing his enthusiasm, whether he’s teaching about dinosaurs or rocks, fossils or the weather cycle, his lessons are energy-filled,” Josselet said. “He’s already an amazing teacher, but to be able to grow him into something even more spectacular is every principal’s dream employee. He’s just amazing.”

At the forefront of campus programs like Christmas Around the World, which celebrates various cultures, and A Night with the Arts, he aims to inspire others.

“I think that end goal is still in mind of pouring into these kids and being that one person for that one child, because you would have wanted that person for you,” Santoya said. “I think some of these kiddos, not just my boy, boys and girls, they need someone to look up to. It was very nice to come into a place where I could be that for some of these kids.”

His impact extends beyond the classroom, guiding the next generation to their full potential. Santoya also received the district’s award for first-year teacher of this school year.