Victoria Leigh Soto
Victoria Leigh Soto | |
---|---|
Gunshot wounds | |
Resting place | Union Cemetery Stratford Fairfield County, Connecticut |
Occupation | Teacher |
Known for | Defender during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting |
Awards | Presidential Citizen's Medal (2013; awarded posthumously) |
Victoria Leigh Soto (November 4, 1985 – December 14, 2012) was an American teacher who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. After the gunman, Adam Lanza, entered the school, she hid her students, then when the gunman entered Soto’s classroom, Soto blamed that the students were in the gym room then Lanza shot Soto, then the students later ran from their hiding places. She was reportedly shot four times by Lanza and died trying to shield them with her body.[1][2] She has since been hailed as a hero.[3][4][2] She is a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Plans and petitions to honor her by name via scholarships, roads, and schools were announced in late 2012 and 2013.
Biography
Soto was born in
Death
On December 14, 2012, Soto was teaching her first-grade class at
Funeral
A memorial service was held on December 15, and funeral services took place on December 19 at the Lordship Community Church.
Legacy
In 2012, Eastern Connecticut State University created the Victoria Leigh Soto Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund, awarded to students aiming to become teachers.[18]
In 2012, the Town of Stratford renamed North Parade, adjacent to town hall, "Victoria Soto Way".[7]
In December 2012, the Stratford High School Class of 2003 established the "Victoria L. Soto Memorial Fund" in her honor. The fund helped pay for funeral services, the creation of a memorial at Stratford High School, and a scholarship fund in the name of Soto, who had belonged to the class of 2003.[19]
In 2013, Acero Victoria Soto High School opened in Chicago, Illinois. The school is a public charter school with grades 9-12.[20][21]
On February 15, 2013, Soto and the other five adults who were killed were posthumously awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal.[22][23] The medal honors Americans who have performed "exemplary deeds of service" for their country or fellow citizens. The medal, the government's second-highest civilian award, was presented to the families of the victims by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony.[24][25]
The Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters organization created the "Victoria Soto Volunteer Award" in honor of Soto, who was a former Nutmeg mentor.[26]
In June 2013, a playground in Long Brook Park in Stratford was named the "Victoria Soto Memorial Playground" in her honor.[27]
In 2015, Victoria Soto Elementary School opened in Stratford. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through second grade.[28]
The city of Bridgeport holds an annual Vicki Soto 5K race.[29]
See also
- List of Irish Americans
- List of Puerto Ricans
- List of Puerto Rican Presidential Citizens Medal recipients
References
- ^ a b staff, CTPost com (December 15, 2012). "Teacher died fighting for her students". Chron. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Planas, Roque (December 16, 2012). "Victoria Soto, Newtown Teacher, Emerges As Hero After Shooting". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
Her mother, Donna, was a nurse at Bridgeport Hospital for 30 years and her father, Carlos, worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation as a crane operator.
- ^ Pearce, Matt (December 19, 2012). "Sandy Hook teacher Victoria Soto is given a hero's farewell". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
- ^ "'Light amidst the darkness': Heroic teacher Victoria Soto remembered". NBC News. December 19, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
- ^ Vignesh Ramachandran (January 14, 2013). "Connecticut school named for slain Newtown teacher Victoria Soto". nbcnews.com. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
- ^ Pujol, Rolando (January 3, 2013). "Petition seeks to rename street after Newtown hero teacher Victoria Soto". WPIX. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
- ^ a b Lambeck, Linda Conner (December 26, 2012). "Petition asks for a street named for Victoria Soto, a teacher slain at Sandy Hook". greenwichtime.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ^ Victoria Leigh Soto Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- ^ "Eastern Connecticut's Liberal Arts University "THE VICTORIA LEIGH SOTO MEMORIAL ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND"". Easternct.edu. December 14, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- ^ "Piden honrar a maestra asesinada en escuela – Vocero de Puerto Rico". El Vocero. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- El Nuevo Dia. Archived from the originalon December 24, 2012. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- ^ "Victoria Leigh Soto (Obituary)". Newtown Bee. December 18, 2012. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- ^ Llanos, Miguel (December 14, 2012). "Authorities ID gunman who killed 27 in elementary school massacre". NBC News. Associated Press. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
- ^ El Nasser, Haya (December 16, 2012). "Woman in iconic photo is sister of slain teacher". USA Today. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
- ^ Roberts, Christine (December 18, 2012). "Iconic photo of woman's anguish before learning her sister died in the Newtown massacre is a reminder that 'kills,' Carlee Soto says". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
- ^ Barry Paddock; Chelsia Rose Marcius; Corky Siemaszko (December 19, 2012). "Paul Simon sings at funeral of Sandy Hook heroine teacher Victoria Leigh Soto as Newtown lays to rest another hero school staffer and four slain students". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
- ^ Ocasio, Keila (December 19, 2012). "'Sound of Silence' lays hero teacher to rest". CTpost.com. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
- ^ "Eastern Announces Victoria Leigh Soto Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund". Reuters. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ^ "Vicki Soto's Graduating Class Establishes Fund for Fallen Hero Teacher".
- ^ Soto ACERO schools
- ^ Lee Bey. Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago's South Side. (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2019), p. 78, photo on p. 81.
- ^ "Obama honors slain Newtown teachers". Connecticut.news12.com. February 15, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
- National Archives.
- ^ "Sandy Hook teachers to receive Presidential medals for heroism". NBC Latino. Associated Press. February 5, 2013.
- ^ Michael Melia (February 5, 2013). "Newtown Educators Slain In Shooting To Be Honored With Presidential Medals By White House". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ says, WebVIRG::View Blog. "Latina 'Big Sister' to Receive Victoria Soto Volunteer Award – ctlatinonews.com".
- ^ "See the Good in a Sea of Bad". June 24, 2013.
- ^ "Victoria Soto School Opens in Stratford". August 28, 2015.
- ^ Joseph Tucci. "What to know about the 11th annual Vicki Soto 5K at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport". Connecticut Post, November 3, 2023.
External links
- Victoria Leigh Soto on Find A Grave