In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, MassLive asked readers to identify people who are emerging Hispanic and Latino leaders throughout the state, working to make a difference in their own area of interest, be it politics, education, business or the arts.
These are people our readers have identified as inspirational, who may be doing good acts for their communities. They are being recognized for their accomplishments, leadership and commitment to inspire change.
Adda Santos is a history teacher at Somerville High School. (Photo courtesy of Adda Santos)
Adda Santos
Age: 53
Community: Somerville
Her story: For 25 years, Adda Santos has been teaching history at Somerville High School. She focuses on educating students about “the whole truth” about history, including “how oppressed and disenfranchised people have continuously resisted and thrived in spite of extreme hardship.”
Santos was been awarded the William Spratt Award for Excellence in Teaching Secondary Social Studies in 2020 and The American Association of State and Local History Leadership in History Award in 2021 for her creation and work on an exhibit inside of the Somerville Museum, “The Basement Project: Not Your Usual Junk.”
Following these achievements, Santos then went on to be named “Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year” by the Gilder Lehman Institute of American History.
Santos was born in Porto Alegre, a city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1990 to attend Northeastern University where she stayed for two years before transferring to the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she earned her Bachelors in History and then her Masters in Education in Secondary Education.
During the summer Santos attends history seminars at UMass Boston, where she focuses on her main area of interest, African American history.
Before Santos went into teaching, she worked as a library assistant at Lamont Library at Harvard University. Santos began her teaching career at Somerville High School in 1998, where she continues to teach “hard history” to her students by “never leaving any facts or voices out of the American narrative.”
In her words: “To be a good teacher, you need to care deeply about young people and try to really see them as individuals who bring with them many different stories, perspectives and points of view. In addition, you must be willing to be a perpetual learner and keep updating your craft, and truly be willing to learn from your students. A teacher should never think of herself as a person who knows everything, but as a person who is willing to listen to all people, and include different points of view in her teaching.”
Each day, we will introduce more leaders, and we’re always open to hear about more inspiring people. If you’d like to suggest someone else who should be recognized, please fill out this form.