Mr. Santiago had been at Thurgood Marshall for over three years, and in that time, had done so many incredible things, and has truly shown up for his students, and staff. Whether he’s dabbing you up in the hallway, or helping you with homework, he’s constantly doing whatever he can to make his community happy, and it’s known by all.
A quote from Sawyer Skogen was, “I mean I didn’t want him to leave, but a teaching job in Seattle seems like a pretty good gig.” When asked what some of his favorite things about Santiago were, he replied with “He did pretty much everything around the school, you know helping out teachers, coaching, stuff like that.”
Lora, the next interviewee’s opinions on Santiago were “ He’s funny, and when I’m slow he helps me in social studies.” She appreciates him as a staff member, and as a person. Mr. Wes, a teacher who worked with Santiago as a colleague, offers his own opinions on the topic, “I was bummed, but I’m excited for him… I think he’s gonna do well.” He said that some of the things he liked about Santiago were “ How friendly he was with students, how many kids he was there for, the relationships he built with kids was pretty evident, he made a tremendous impact here.” Mr. Santiago was well known by pretty much everyone, and always seemed to be described as a fun, happy, funny, kind person.
Bell Davis continues on the topic of Mr. Santiago’s character with, “He’s one of the coolest teachers I know.” She also loves how nice he is to everyone he greets.
The principle of Thurgood Marshall, Mr. Brock had some praise for Mr. Santiago as well. “ One of the things I love about education is watching folks grow, and that’s something I think a lot about with Mr. Santiago.” Mr. Santiago started off at Thurgood Marshall as a volunteer, who then worked up to a Paraeducator, and now the next step for him is to become a teacher.
Mr. Santiago was asked different questions than the rest of the interviewees, regarding his point of view about Thurgood Marshall. He said that among the many favorite moments he has had, his favorite memory was this year’s game of the reindeer game, which is a game the staff play where there’s a reindeer toy and a whole lot of bluffing. When asked what his favorite part of Thurgood Marshall was, his response was this, “ My favorite thing about Thurgood Marshall I would say, has got to be the students. Being able to walk around and always be greeted with a smile and a how are you doing; but also just being able to see and be a part of a lot of students lives, and see those aha moments when they understand it and they feel so proud of themselves and I get to be a part of that; I mean it’s just what motivates me, what makes my day, and I think it’s always the best part about Thurgood Marshall Middle School.”
Mr. Santiago will be greatly missed by his students, who want him to know that he will always have a community here at Thurgood Marshall, where his legacy will forever live on.
