- Target:
- TIME Magazine and President Obama
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.time.com
I would like to recognize Victoria Soto as Hero of the Year for saving her children's lives. She made the ultimate sacrifice for her students as I believe any teacher in this country would do.
The 27-year-old teacher's name has been invoked again and again as a portrait of selflessness amid unfathomable evil. Those who knew her said they weren't surprised by reports she shielded her first-graders from danger by hiding them in a closet.
"We heard at one point that they found some people hiding in a closet, and all of us said Vicki would never be hiding in a closet. She would be out there protecting those babies," her mother, Donna Soto, told CBS' "This Morning."
Soto said her eldest daughter, who had two younger sisters and a brother, used to joke that she was "the perfect one" of the siblings. They got back by calling her "The Queen V."
"She was the best daughter any mother could ask for ... She loved her family more than anything. Teaching and her family was her life," Donna Soto said.
Photos of Victoria Soto show her always with a wide smile, in pictures of her at her college graduation and in mundane daily life. She looks so young, barely an adult herself. Her goal was simply to be a teacher.
"You have a teacher who cared more about her students than herself," said Mayor John Harkins of Stratford, the town Soto hailed from and where more than 300 people gathered for a memorial service Saturday night. "That speaks volumes to her character, and her commitment and dedication."
Associated Press December 17, 2012
We, the undersigned, call on the President of the United States of America and TIME Magazine to officially recognize Victoria Soto as 2012's Hero of the Year.
She paid the ultimate sacrifice to save her students and demonstrated such courage on December 14, 2012. It takes an incredible individual to put others first and step to the plate in the moment of extreme need.
God bless her and her family and friends and United States of America - united we stand - this day and always.
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The Victoria Soto - HERO OF THE YEAR 2012 petition to TIME Magazine and President Obama was written by Tania Tammaro and is in the category Patriotism at GoPetition.