Dateland teacher earns top honors

A former Yuma County Teacher of the Year adds one more laurel to her career with recently being named Rural Schoolteacher of the Year.

Laura Soto, a Dateland Elementary School seventh-grade teacher, was honored as the state's rural teacher of the year by the Arizona Rural School Association during its recent annual conference in Prescott.

Soto topped the 15 semifinalists representing each of the state's counties. She said she was shocked when she heard the announcement.

"I didn't think I'd win because there's others with so many more years of experience. A lot of teachers are magnificent when they focus on one subject. But I think I stood out because I have to be a master in all subject areas."

Working in a rural district, she has to wear many hats, and Soto said she needs to be creative and focused on keeping her student's attention so they stay excited about learning. Yet no matter how well she plans out lessons, every day reveals something different, she says.

"What surprises me is I learn from the kids as well and with each lesson they teach me, I learn to become a better teacher."

What students have shown her is that she has to keep them motivated. Soto goes the extra mile, and before each school year she studies all of her students' files. That is a big strength for her because then she can spot any problems in math, reading or other core subjects.

Soto also strives to maintain rigor, not like a military academy but keeps high standards. She creates many activities so students remain on task, and keeps them engaged at all times by requiring all students to respond to questions.

And Soto's dedication to excellence has yielded results with Dateland seventh- and eighth-grade students meeting or exceeding AIMS standards for the past several years that has put them at the top tier of achievement in the county. In addition, for the last six years her students have attained the Performing Plus label on the AZ Learns exam.

She manages to accomplish this despite having many English Language Learners (ELL) students, those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or others with various learning disabilities. With special needs students, she has to modify the material so they can understand. She does it by repeatedly exposing them to grade-level content but brings it down just a notch to their level of comprehension, she said.

"I have to give them some level of achievement so they feel a sense of success, empowered. And then we can attack their weaknesses." 

Pat Koury, the Hyder School District superintendent, says he has known Soto since she was in primary school and she has always been "a go-getter." Koury said Soto was an alumna of his "grow your own" program.

He hired her after she graduated from AWC and gave her work three days a week as a teacher's assistant while she put herself through NAU-Yuma and got her teacher's certificate.

"I got a bilingual quality person to work with my kids and she got the opportunity to go to college. She grew up in a rural area and she understood the kids out here because she's one of them."

Soto said she would like to see where all districts provide an opportunity for students to play sports, band music, have photography, cooking, industrial and fine arts but only rich schools can afford it now.

"I drive my sons to Yuma to enable them to have gymnastics and drum lessons and I have to pay for that. I see that as unfair because lots of other schools have those programs. I would like to see an equal opportunity for every student to do all those things."

William Roller can be reached at wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.