LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Victor De Los Santos was nominated by an anonymous student.

Mr. De Los Santos is more than a teacher; he is a role model for an entire program and community. He began to work at Santa Ana High School in the year 2007. He was informed that the students there were challenging, but for Mr. De Los Santos, it was an opportunity to impact people. When he began to work at Santa Ana High School, the music program only had 120 students between orchestra and band, and there were only six ensembles. Over the course of his eleven years at Santa Ana HS, he has managed to nearly triple the amount of students involved in the music program and has added three more ensembles.

Mr. De Los Santos is aware about the stereotypes towards the school, and he works every year to change them. For the past two years, he has been nominated a finalist for the Grammy Music Educator of the Year. When he is asked how he feels about the nomination, he responds with, "I am just glad that my school name stands next to it because it reflects its success and not the stereotypes."

Every event he takes the students to, he always tells them, "you do not just reflect yourselves, but an entire school and community, so let's make sure that when we leave, they have nothing but good things to say about us."

Mr. De Los Santos does not give up on his students; he understands many of them have issues at home, and that sometimes, being at school is their only escape from home. He takes it upon himself to be his students' friend and role model. 

Mr. De Los Santos believes when students are given the resources and opportunities to succeed, they'll achieve it. This year, he took the Santa Ana High School Jazz Band to San Francisco so they could perform to all the Boards of Education across the state. Also, this upcoming year, the Jazz Band will perform in China for its communities. He has also managed to create a pathway with UCI for students who wish to make music their career.

Mr. De Los Santos opened doors that were closed for many years to his students. He is a fatherly figure to many students. If a student is in tears, he sits down with them, listens to their issues, and does everything in his power to fix them. At one point, he even fostered a student who had many issues at home and was living on the streets.

"Mr. De Los Santos is impacting the life of many. He has brought attention to a school and community that was pushed aside because of the stereotypes," said his nominator. "Now, one can walk down the street and be proud that they graduated from Santa Ana High School and are part of the community."