Victoria Leigh Soto The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes defines an unsung hero as:
One who has created positive change in history by improving the lives of others and has yet to be recognized. The individual’s impact must have stood the test of time.
Victoria Leigh "Vicki" Soto (November 4, 1985 – December 14, 2012) was an American teacher who was murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. After the gunman entered the school, Soto hid her students, then died trying to protect them, and has since been hailed as a hero. 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. The Stafford Town Council unanimously approved a resolution to name a school after Soto and the city of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, birthplace of Soto's father, is planning to name a public
Soto was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Carlos Soto, a native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and Donna Fagin-Soto, of Irish-American descent. Her father worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation as a crane operator and her mother was a nurse at Bridgeport Hospital. Her family moved to Stanford, Connecticut, and she graduated from Stafford High School in 2003. In 2008, she earned bachelor's degrees in both education and history at Eastern Connecticut State University. She then enrolled in graduate school at Southern Connecticut State University.
On December 14, 2012, Soto was teaching her first grade class at Sandy Hook Elementary School when Adam Lanza forced his way into the school and began to shoot staff and students. After killing fifteen students and two teachers in the first classroom, Lanza entered Soto's classroom. Soto had hidden several children in a closet, and when Lanza entered her classroom, she told him that the children were in the school gym. When several children ran from their hiding places, Lanza began shooting the students. Soto was shot after she "threw herself in front of her first grade students."[ A photograph of Soto's sister awaiting news of her sister on her cell phone was taken by Associated Press photographer Jessica Hill and widely reproduced across the globe. Some news outlet labeled the photograph "iconic" and said that it has come to symbolize the tragedy.
A memorial service was held on December 15, and funeral services took place on December 19 at her church, Lordship Community Church. American musician and songwriter Paul Simon performed at the funeral services and sang "The Sound of Silence". On December 20, she was interred at Union Cemetery Stafford, Airfield County, Connecticut. The Connecticut State Police honor guard saluted Soto's hearse en rout The mayor's proposal was unanimously approved by the Stafford Town Council. The mayor also stated that a fund will be set up to accept donations from those who want to contribute to a memorial, which may include a statue of Soto. In December 2012, Eastern Connecticut State University announced the creation of the Victoria Leigh Soto Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund, awarded to students who aspire to become teachers. In December 2012, residents started a petition to rename North Parade in Stafford, Connecticut, to "Victoria Soto Way." On December 17, 2012, the Stafford High School Class of 2003 established the "Victoria L. Soto Memorial Fund" in her honor. The fund will use the donations made to help pay for the funeral services and for the creation of a memorial at Stafford High School and a scholarship fund in the name of Soto, a former classmate who belonged to the Class of 2003.
The City of Bayamon, Puerto Rico is planning to name a public facility after Soto, whose paternal family was originally from Puerto Rico's second-most populous city.
On February 15, 2013, Soto and the other five adult teachers and administrators who were killed were posthumously awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal. The medal honors Americans who have performed “exemplary deeds of service” for their country or fellow citizens. The medal is commonly recognized as the government's second-highest civilian award and was presented to the families of the victims by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony.
The Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters organization created the "Victoria Soto Volunteer Award" in honor of Soto who was a former Nutmeg mentor. On April 25, 2013, Ana Robles, a Nutmeg mentor, became the first recipient of the award. In June 2013, a playground in Long Brook Park in Stafford was named the "Victoria Soto Memorial Playground" in her honor.
In 2015, the Victoria Soto School was inaugurated and opened, with a ribbon cutting ceremony, in Stafford, where she attended high school. The school, which was named in her honor, will serve students from prekindergarten through second grade.
