Hero Teacher Sonya Romero

Long story short, in the midst of my Grad school “homework”, I stumbled upon a “Pay It Forward” nomination plea on the KOB Channel 4 Facebook page.  I immediately thought of a teacher, Sonya Romero, whom I had met in the fall, who had ended up taking in some children from an In-Home Services case that went arye back in November. I would love to say just google it (google “Sonya Romero” or “Social Worker Pays it Forward”) but if you’re too lazy to do that, here is the general timeline of events and how it turned into a segment on the Ellen show:

In January, a few weeks after I submitted my nomination, the channel 4 producers contacted me and stated they were selecting my nomination as their winner.  They asked me to come to the studio to film the segment.  Little did I know that, the principal at Sonya’s school had invited everyone to the school for the “surprise” part of the filming.  It was super nerve racking but awesome at the same time!  Awesome for Sonya Romero whom deserved it so much!

My FB post on February 1, 2015:  I nominated an APS teacher for something amazing she did for children via CYFD….and I WON the Channel 4 KOBTV Pay It Forward award to give her $400. The story is supposed to air tonight after the Superbowl on the 10pm news. I’m not sure if we’ll be in front of a TV tonight in Angelfire at 10pm or not, I wish I had DVR. Ugh.

The pay it forward story aired on February 1st, 2015 on Superbowl Sunday in the 10pm news. It was the kick-of story for their new Pay-It-Forward news stories series.
KOBTV Channel 4 Pay It Forward – Social Woker Pays it Forward to Teacher who opened home to 4 children
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3693857.shtml?cat=12846#.V39POEDqPdP

Well, a month or two later, in March, the principal at Sonya Romero’s school contacted me stating that the producers of the Ellen show had caught wind of how awesome Sonya Romero was from some national news articles that she had been quoted in stating the effects of poverty on children’s learning.  The principal stated that the Ellen show wanted to video the foster children for their segment on Sonya Romero and she wanted to know who to contact for them to get permission.  (The State did not give permission for this due to confidentiality issues and parents still having rights).  The principal let me know that the show was taping the segment at the school that day and for me to come down for an on camera interview.  They had tricked Sonya Romero into going out to California while they filmed with the students/teacher at her school.  I agreed and went to the school and had a short on camera interview about Sonya’s awesomeness.

My FB post from March 18, 2015 – Remember that awesome teacher/foster mom I nominated for Channel 4 Pay It Forward in January? She’ll be on the Ellen Show tomorrow (Thursday) and I might have a very small cameo… Somebody please record it, as I will be at CYFD and I don’t have DVR.
“Getting to introduce you to Sonya Romero tomorrow is why I love what I do via @theellenshow”

Here is the clip of the show from Ellen Tube – Hero Teacher Sonya Romero.  When Ellen heard about humanitarian Sonya Romero, she knew she had to bring her to the show.  This was an interview neither of them will soon forget.
http://ellentube.com/videos/0-ux3r2qq8/

My thoughts posted on FB on March 22, 2015 – Finally able to process the Ellen Show excitement & aftermath from Thursday. I can only explain it as rooting for a football team full of underdogs (public school teachers and foster parents) who’ve been under-appreciated for so long and then one day the quarterback (Sonya Romero) throws a touchdown to win the Superbowl ($20K & being recognized by Ellen/our community). Nothing makes me happier than people getting the recognition/reward they deserve for helping others (thank you Ellen & Target). And for me to have a small part in an even bigger story was just a lil bonus. To hear Ellen talk about a case that was my very first case/family to work with at CYFD as an intern last semester was just surreal. The guilt & sadness I had over the circumstances was greatly diminished by knowing two of the four children were placed with Sonya. I will never forget her, nor this case. ‪#‎GiveGratitudeAlways

The End of an amazing story.