Ed Santiago, a minor league professional football player, looks like a gentle giant among the Chesterbrook Academy preschoolers.
A defensive tackle for the Virginia Rage, Santiago also is principal of the Farmwell Hunt Community preschool in Ashburn. He is one of three men to serve as role models at the academy.
Santiago, 27, said football and working with children are his passions. Regarding the latter, he follows in the footsteps of his mother, Irma Santiago, who is a schoolteacher.
"I don't feel there are enough males in this job," he said. "There are so many children who need a male role model. If I can help them out, I want to be that person."
Eric Gordon, a teacher of the after-school kindergarten program and summer camps, agrees. "I think it's really important, because it gives the kids a male to bond with. There are a lot of single parent situations. A lot of the kids live with their mothers."
He said those children "look up to us a little more. They come to us for advice."
WHEN GORDON started working at Chesterbrook, he was surprised to learn that Santiago was principal. He thought the children would be afraid of a 6'2", 314-pound football player.
"But it's really the opposite. He's like a big teddy bear. All the kids really like him," Gordon said.
Santiago has a framed poster on his office wall with the saying: "A 100 years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or the kind of car I drove. But the world will be a better place because I was important in the life of a child."
"This is something I will never stop doing," he said. "It is something about going home everyday after getting hugs from children. They respect you. … They love you for what you have taught them. It's something you cannot find in just any job."
Santiago lives in Sugarland with his wife Brandi, and children, Trey, 11, and Trinity, 2.
His assistant, Karen Chinn, said her boss is soft spoken and patient with the children. "Having a manly figure around the children is good," she added. "For being such a tall, huge person, he's very gentle."
SANTIAGO SHARES his love for the game with the preschoolers, because he believes it is important for children to get involved in sports. "It really helps you communicate and break down walls," he said. "You build confidence. You build camaraderie. It keeps children from taking drugs, off the streets. It gives them a better opportunity to succeed in life."
The preschool children and their parents often go to the Virginia Rage games, he said. He described the games as a lot of fun in an "alcohol-free environment made for children to experience pros on a closer level." The stadiums, such as the one at Centreville High School, which hosted his first game this summer, have seating for 10,000 spectators or one-tenth the capacity of RFK in Washington. In his second season with the team, he hopes to eventually qualify for the Arena Football League (AFL) or the National Football League (NFL). The Virginia Rage is a member of the North American Football League.
Santiago, a native of Puerto Rico, started combining sports and his work with children when he was 13, first as a junior camp counselor, then as a coach. He has coached children in football, soccer and basketball. "It's helping their future and yours at the same time," he said. "Ultimately, it's the most rewarding thing I have done."
He has gone through extensive training to earn a starting position on the football team and the top spot at the Academy. Through Chesterbrook's training, Santiago earned a child development associate's degree. He oversees 130 children from infants through five year olds. The school also provides camp and after-school programs for children six to 12.
"WE INTRODUCE SPANISH as early as 2 years old," he said. "By the time they leave our three-year-old class, they can write their names. We introduce computers at 4. From there, we start hands-on science and basic math, manipulatives, sorting. We work on phonics in junior kindergarten."
Santiago spends everyday visiting the classrooms and getting to know the children. "It is a great release to do an art project with them, toss the ball, go over their work or sit down and read a book with them."
One of his most beneficial training sessions was with a group of children with physical and mental disabilities in Williamsburg, he said. "Just to be able to be trained in that special needs environment helps you get a better gauge on children who don't have those disabilities," he said, adding that the satisfaction was in "dealing with children who have a rougher day than some of us and have twice as much enjoyment in picking things up."
Whether he makes it to the next level in football, Santiago said his work with children is a lifetime commitment. "I believe in it wholeheartedly."