Educator called 'a difference maker'

Helping pupils reach their potential is 16-year veteran's passion
By Leonel Sanchez San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER October 11, 2007

San Altos Elementary School teacher Andee Aceves wouldn't give up on Joey Melendez. It never even entered her mind. The boy, who has autism, became discouraged last year after the special-education aide who helped him in the classroom became ill. “I can't do it. I have a disability. I'm different, you know,” were his usual responses to any difficult assignment, Aceves said. The high-energy teacher kept working with him. By year's end, Joey had been rated proficient in the annual state testing and won an academic medal. He made friends and even participated in a school play. “She's a difference maker,” said Joey's mother, Eva Melendez. “Her students really have an advantage because of her passion and commitment to (helping them) reach their potential every single day.”
Aceves, 51, has been teaching for 16 years at the Lemon Grove school and credits her success to never underestimating her students' potential to learn. “I entered this profession with a desire to reach students who might otherwise be lost in the education process,” Aceves wrote in her application. Colleagues who recommended her for the county award described her as a role model for students and their parents. Aceves, who grew up in National City, is the first in her family to graduate from college and, for that matter, high school. “They can see her as a sign of hope for themselves,” San Altos principal Donn Griffitts said.
Aceves works in a school where nearly three-quarters of the students are Latino or African-American, and more than half of the students get free or reduced lunch. Aceves, who is also president of the district's teachers union, said she is exactly where she wants to be. “I chose this district because it had the demographics I wanted,” she said during a classroom break Tuesday. “I wanted to reach kids who have needs.” Her colleagues also noted the lengths she goes to get to know her students and their families. Aceves is a frequent guest at quinceañeras, baptisms, birthdays and soccer games. Four years ago, she and her husband, Manuel, who is also a teacher, were foster parents to one of her former students and the girl's three sisters.
She also does charity work and encourages her students to collect canned goods for the needy and to write letters to soldiers in Iraq. She credits her grandparents, who raised her, for encouraging her to work hard and get an education. A photo of her grandmother, who died in 1994, is one of many that grace the “inspiration bulletin board” in her classroom. “She got to see me become a teacher,” Aceves said proudly. Aceves was in her 30s when she decided to pursue a teaching career. She had worked in a probation department and in retail, but found greater satisfaction volunteering in her daughters' classrooms. “I remember telling myself (that) I want my own class,” Aceves said. Now that she has one, “Every day is a big deal,” she said.