From Science Teacher to Science Advocate

When Alfred Santos, Ed.M.’26, arrived in the United States nine years ago from the Philippines as a foreign exchange teacher ready to teach science at a K–12 charter school in Arizona, he expected to walk into a building with amazing facilities and sophisticated science labs. It’s what schools looked like in American movies and on TV shows like Glee. 

But when he got to Yuma, a rural town where 90% of students are Latino and the majority cross the border from neighboring Mexico every day to attend school, there was no science lab, just some basic glassware and a sink. That first year, almost nothing unfolded the way he had imagined: His lesson plans weren’t landing and his students, especially the girls, seemed uninterested in STEM. He was struggling.

Santos, who is graduating from the Online Master’s in Education Leadership Program, decided to figure out what was going on — and make some changes. That effort is one of the reasons he was chosen as this year’s recipient of the Phyllis Strimling Award. The award, given annually at Convocation to an HGSE student who works to advance society by advancing women, demonstrates inclusive leadership, and is inspirational to others, was created in 2000 to honor Phyllis Strimling, Ed.M.’89, the longtime director of the former Radcliffe Seminars.

During that first year, Santos sat down with one of his students, Ana, who seemed eager to learn, and asked her why other students seemed so disconnected. 

“She told me they had multiple teachers for the past few years because nobody wanted to stay and teach in our area,” he says. “We know you’re going to leave next year anyway,” she said.

The moment stayed with him, and he realized that his students were looking for more than just instruction. They needed consistency and adults who really believed in them. Santos decided to start mentoring students through a STEM research program he created, initially with one participant: Ana. As he told the Strimling award committee in his application, “Both of her parents live and work in Mexico, and Ana, being the eldest child, is expected to help her family. I saw a lot of potential in her, especially her love for health and medicine. So, I encouraged her to do STEM research with me as her mentor. It was also the first STEM research conducted in our district.”

Ana went on to win top prizes at science fairs and regional research competitions and got a full scholarship to attend medical school. Her success attracted more young Latina students to study STEM with Santos, including four who went on to become national STEM champions. Many, like Ana, got full college scholarships, and a couple of years ago, two of his students paid it forward by starting with Santos a district-wide project called Adopt a Little Scientist that pairs experienced high school students with younger kids interested in working on STEM research.

It is this dedication to his students and their success that stood out for the Strimling selection committee, says Neal Yanofsky, who co-created the award in 2000 with Holly Weeks and Rob Scalea when the three were teaching in the Radcliffe Seminar Management Program under Strimling. 

“The committee was impressed by Alfred's clear dedication to his students, and particularly to his creation of programs designed to advance female students in the traditionally male-dominated STEM field,” he says. “We found the combination of his classroom teaching, one-to-one mentoring, and programmatic expansion and management to be compelling, and a clear fit for the ideals of the Phyllis Strimling Award.”

One of those former students, Eveleen Velarde, wrote a recommendation letter to the Strimling committee, citing not just Santos’ ability to bring complex scientific concepts to life, but also for giving her experiences that “dismantled my belief that science was an unreachable field as a first-generation Latina, paving the way for the journey I am on today.” 

As Velarde explains, growing up between Mexico and the United States, higher-level education often felt like a distant reality. “My perspective on healthcare was shaped by the barriers a lot of families faced, like living an hour away from the nearest hospital and navigating a system where low-income, minority families are rarely prioritized,” she says. “These systemic inequalities, including physician shortages and limited access to education, initially made a career in STEM seem impossible. My journey from those early experiences to becoming a second-year undergraduate at Stanford University was made possible because I had a mentor who saw my potential before I could see it myself.”