Fifth-graders at Homer Davis Elementary School have a friend in teacher Steven Aranda.
He's a teacher first, but he insists on being a friend to students as well.
Aranda, 53, is one of four local teachers selected for the 2008 Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona Exemplary Teacher Initiative from hundreds of educators in schools with large populations of low-income students. The teachers receive $10,000 in savings bonds and will mentor University of Arizona student teachers.
Aranda expects his students to be active participants in their education.
He knows they might stumble on a problem or fail a test, but Aranda wants his students to leave his classroom each day with a sense of accomplishment.
Teachers are sometimes hesitant about striking up a friendship with their students, but Aranda said he wants to be more than just a teacher.
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"I just found out very early on that kids need to know you care about them and they need to know everything coming from you is genuine," he said. "I pull them in and hook them by making them my friends."
Aranda wants to be there for his students in and out of class, but he makes sure his students know he's their teacher first.
Friendships are fostered through basketball games, nicknames and impromptu dance moves.
He formed an after-school basketball league for students when he first started teaching 20 years ago at Walter Douglas Elementary School.
Aranda has spent his entire teaching career in the Flowing Wells Unified School District and the last 13 years at Homer Davis, 4250 N. Romero Road.
"I'm out there running, passing the ball, sweating and laughing," he said. "They get to see me differently."
Students also get to see a silly side of Aranda.
He dances with his students to celebrate their birthdays. He dances when he wears a new pair of shoes to work. And he jumps on countertops to pretend he's walking on a tightrope strung over the Grand Canyon.
"He's funny," fifth-grader Viviana Olmos said. "In the morning, he turns on the music and he starts dancing. On our birthdays, he gets us on the table and dances with us."
Aranda also gives each of his students a nickname at some point during the school year.
His own nickname last year was "Aranda Chimichanga."
At school carnivals, Aranda's band performs classic rock 'n' roll tunes and he invites students on stage to shake a tambourine.
"I'm the biggest clown around," he said.
Homer Davis' principal, Brett Bonner, said Aranda is a natural in the classroom.
Bonner asks Aranda to mentor new teachers because Aranda's classroom management is the best he has seen.
"He is a superior classroom teacher," Bonner said. "He can take the toughest kids, the best kids and get them at the appropriate level of learning."
exemplary educators
About this series
The Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona chose seven Tucson-area finalists for its annual Exemplary Teacher Initiative. The Star is unveiling the four winners one-by-one Friday through Monday. Go online to www.azstarnet.com/sn/ education to see all the profiles and read more about education.
