LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

« Return to Nominee List

Daniel Santome

Position: Custodian
School: White Sands Middle School
School District: Las Cruces Public Schools
City, State: White Sands Missile Range, NM

Support Daniel Leave a comment

Music that Describes Daniel


Daniel Santome was nominated anonymously. 

"Mr. Santome started as a custodian at our school, which is not easy. We are not your typical school. We have DD-pre through 8th-grade students. Mr. Santome stepped up to the challenge of being our only night custodian and has done a fantastic job. He never complains. He is always right where he is needed and always goes above and beyond. But this is not a nomination for Mr. Santome as a custodian. He is much more than that," said the nominator.

"At the beginning of this year, the coach for most White Sands Middle School sports chose a different direction in a different city. In our small community, finally getting to play on your school's sports team is a big deal, but finding a coach is challenging. Due to our school's community (being on a military base and size), we have special circumstances," said the nominator. "Our district allows students to play in 8th grade; at White Sands, we are allowed to play both 7th and 8th graders to have enough players to create a whole team. We then compete as a B squad. Mr. Santome heard of the situation with the coach, and without hesitation, he stepped up. On top of his busy work schedule and having a family of his own, he did not want the students to lose out on their season. We were all very grateful, and you might think it would end there- that this would be the premise of my nomination. But, yet again, there is more."

"Mr. Santome showed up! But again, he went above and beyond for our little volleyball team. Some of these girls had played together last year. I cannot remember the actual stats, but these girls worked hard. Unfortunately, however, they had more losses than wins. Many of them felt it, and as things do with young girls, it affected their self-esteem and love of sports. Luckily, when the season rolled around this year, many felt they would give it a second chance. That is where Mr. Santome comes in," said the nominator.

"This was an underdog story. He worked with the girls every single weekday. He taught them fundamentals and plays. He found their strengths and put them in positions where they were an asset to their team, something nobody else at this level was doing. He encouraged our girls to work hard and to be brave enough to try and grow. Little by little, these girls turned into a winning team! I would love to be able to tell you this little team won it all in the tournaments, but unfortunately, that was not our ending. However, this team was given more than that because of Coach Santome. He preached good sportsmanship and led by example. He pushed the girls to work hard, and he worked hard for them as well. He held them to a standard that is not the norm for our district, but he also displayed that standard in his own work," said the nominator.

"So, as I close, I will say Mr. Santome is everything you seek. He has made a beneficial difference in the lives of students. He has been a leader. He is kind and has morals and ethical standards that we don't quite see as much anymore, and he goes above and beyond," said the nominator. "Not only did Coach Santome step up for volleyball, but he has already committed himself to our girls' basketball team and the boys' basketball. Our student-athletes are very lucky to have a coach with Coach Santome's knowledge, but also his heart."

Comments (10)

Jemma Posted 8 months ago

Coach Daniel, was the best coach I could ask for. He brought us up instead of putting us down. I played on both Volleyball and Basketball for him. When we went some of us myself included went from never liking Basketball or Volleyball. To loving it. He really showed me how to love sports. I hope he wins this award.

Caiden Posted 9 months ago

I love you coach

Adam Baum Posted 9 months ago

Coach Daniel puts his all into coaching those kids, he does right by teaching them the sports skills, teamwork, and most importantly how to be a good human being! He’s a quality man!

Monica Posted 9 months ago

Daniel deserves this. 10000%.

Kim Posted 9 months ago

My granddaughter was on the volleyball team and I always heart good and positive things about her coach. He certainly deserves any and all good things coming his way.

Luna Posted 9 months ago

Best coach White sands school has ever had! All students who have played with him truly admire and respect him and us parents truly appreciate everything he has done for these students. He's more than a custodian he is a mentor for these young students at White Sands school.

P. Posted 9 months ago

Coach Daniel has been an amazing asset to the White Sands community!! He lead our volleyball team with grace and class and then turned around and did it again with many of the same girls, and some new ones, for basketball. He coached them to an undefeated season. The wins aren’t all of it. It is what he taught the girls and brought out in them. The confidence to get out there, to work, to persevere- it went past the court. These young ladies showed the same determination in other aspects of their lives. We are very grateful for Coach Daniel and the hard work he put in. He definitely deserves to be recognized for being the coach that he is, but also the stand-up person.

BP Posted 9 months ago

I’m one of the athletes that played with Coach Daniel for both volleyball and basketball! I went from having a coach that would put me down and really took away my self confidence, to Coach Daniel, who brought up my confidence, helped me feel closer to my team, and was there for me if I needed anything or something was wrong. Coach Daniel kept his head up through all the highs and lows and told us to do the same. He stuck with us and made sure we knew he was proud of us. Hearing Coach Daniel won the Best Girls Middle School Coach for the Mesilla Valley was great! So now I hope that he can get the Life Changer award as well, because he did change a lot of the our lives and how we feel about ourselves as athletes and as a team.

Greg Posted 9 months ago

Great person and an amazing coach. Well deserved.

Nancy Dawson Posted 9 months ago

He truly is the best coach we could ask for he has taught our children the values of believing in themselves after he took over our children had so much self confidence and achieved so much this year thank coach for everything you do!!!!