This is to share a story of how teachers and business partners worked together this Christmas season to show love to a student in a meaningful way.  The story starts with a letter sent to Cecilia Bogran, a reporter from Univision, who then reached out to John Santos, a teacher from Augustus Hawkins High School in South Central Los Angeles. John got busy… this story is about Victor’s telescope.

A mother wanted her son to have a gift that she couldn’t afford:

Dear Cecilia Bogran,

I hope you remember me, I am the mother of the boy who needs your help to see if someone is willing to donate a telescope to my son. It doesn’t matter what condition it is in, whether it is old or broken, it doesn’t matter.

I want to tell you about my son, his name is Victor. At 12 months of age when he started talking he started saying one phrase; “Mami, I want to go to the sky.” And that is the way it started with me reading him books about planets, meteors and the moon and how all of these objects travel around the sun. At first I thought that these were ideas that he had in his head that would change over time, but six years have passed and I continue hearing the same thing including this past Christmas, when he told me, “Mami, I don’t want toys for Christmas, I want a telescope.” 

We don’t have the money to buy a telescope. I work really hard to put three meals on the table every day. Like a mother, I am doing everything possible to motivate my son to do his best in school every day by putting his maximum effort into his school-work. Like a mother I am also trying to help my children understand not to set limits and I try my best to provide them with the tools needed for success. To me education is very important, because it is the only treasure that cannot be taken away from you. The United States is still the only place where dreams can still come true.

Please, Please, Please, if you can help my son, I will be whole heartedly grateful to you. 

Thank You for taking the time to read my email. 

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So that’s how it started; I shared it with some of my engineering friends and after they read the letter, it touched their hearts. They remembered being Victor’s age and not having anyone that they could reach out to make their dreams come true. They had no-one who could appreciate what Victor was feeling.

I said, “It may not make a big difference, but we can make a difference with this little kid.” We marshaled our resources and decided to buy Victor a telescope. So we raised the money and bought the telescope and let Cecilia Bogran know that we had a brand new telescope for Victor. On Christmas day we went to his house and gave it to him. He was completely surprised and went and hugged his telescope.

This story does not end with the telescope, some engineers have volunteered to follow up with him and continue to motivate him to assure his success in school and in his future. I am fortunate enough to have so many of you that are willing to step up and help when I find myself not being able to take on a challenge on my own, and even when I am able to, you still help out. For all of the support you provide year in and year out, my students and I are consistently reminded that anything is possible.  My students and I are truly grateful that all of you play such a significant part our success. We see you as our heroes.

As Bernard Malamud said, “Without heroes, we are all plain people and don’t know how far we can go.”

Merry Christmas

Most Sincerely,
John P. Santos