For most people, a new school year means adjusting to brand new classes, new teachers or even a brand new school. In the case of new activities director Crystal Soria, it means adjusting to a very critical role for the school.
After former activities director Claudia Chaidez took a job as an assistant principal at Pajaro Valley, Alisal was left looking for her successor. With only two weeks to plan homecoming, Crystal Soria joined the Alisal family.
“I applied in early August and the application closed at the end of August. I went through some interviews and I found out mid-September,” Soria said. “After that I had to go through the process of being released from my contract as a teacher on special assignment at the school district and then there was a two week waiting period.”
Soria was born and raised in Salinas where she attended Salinas High and was on the soccer, cross country, and track teams. “I really like running,” she said. “I’m not a very coordinated person so I think running was something where I felt like I had control of myself.” I think I just liked being able to see my own growth of the times I needed to beat and it was just motivation for myself to train on my own and just kind of see myself grow and improve.”
After graduating in 2012, Soria attended San Francisco State where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and special education. She then attended Santa Clara University to obtain her Master’s and teaching credential. Most recently, she received her administrative credential from CSUMB.
“I really enjoyed it,” she said. “I think I always wanted to go into education, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. From the time I was little, I remember teaching my little cousins and my brother. I would sit them down and we would play school, that was something I always wanted.”
Before coming to Alisal, Soria was a teacher at Lincoln Elementary where she taught 5th grade for 6 years. “I loved teaching fifth grade, It’s such a fun age. They (the kids) are exploring the world. They kind of have their own personalities. There’s a shift between fifth and sixth because hormones kick in and they change a little bit, but it’s still fun,” Soria said. “I love the curriculum, it’s a lot of U.S. history and implementing a lot of my own personality when going into the classroom to make things fun. I know I’d have a hard time sitting down so I was always trying to get kids moving… so that it’s not just us sitting down for 5-6 hours of the day.”
Most recently, Soria was an instructional coach at one of the elementary schools in the Salinas City School District where she helped new teachers adjust to their classrooms. “I really liked helping newer teachers, especially teachers that were just coming out of their credential programs themselves and being able to help them see things in a different way,” she said. “A lot of the time it’s not giving them answers but letting the teachers find out what works best for them.”
Now, she is the activities director here where she hopes to make an impact on a bigger group of students. “This was an opportunity that came knocking and it seemed like it was the best of both worlds,” Soria said. “I’m enjoying it. There’s a lot I still have to learn, but so far everyone who’s been involved has been super supportive.”
As for her students, according to senior Deserie Odad, a second year leadership student, it’s going good, especially for how last minute she came in. “I think her and the class and everyone else was able to adapt. Ms. Soria is able to pick up things quickly,” Odad said. “I feel like it’s very different from last year because last year we had to follow a lot of rules but now we can do events that we really want. Just working around, we’re making new traditions and continuing the old traditions.”
Sorias’ biggest adjustment so far has been being able to ask for help. “I was a teacher for a while, so I was kind of settled and knew my ground,” she said. “I don’t know all the answers, I don’t know a lot of the background of things like, the paperwork and all that stuff so that’s been a big adjustment.”
One of Soria’s goals as activities director is to help students that don’t typically participate become more involved in school activities. “I think there are students who are hyper involved, which is amazing and we always want that and we want to continue fostering that, but I think I also want to involve students that might not have their voices heard all the time and I want to get their input and I want to get them involved in school as much as possible,” she said.
One of her plans to reach this goal is to reach out to parents and find out why the students aren’t getting involved in the first place. “A lot of it, I understand, is parents don’t necessarily know what’s going on,” she said. “My parents didn’t go to high school so they don’t really understand what high school was and I’m assuming there’s a lot of students in similar situations whose parents might not know… my biggest priority is to inform parents and let them know what’s going on.”
But Soria doesn’t just think about her own goals as activities director, she thinks of goals for her students as well. “I want the students to learn to be good leaders, to be advocates for the community. Especially here on this side of town and to just get the most out of their education to be ready for the next steps,” she said.
Though being activities director comes with lots of responsibilities, it’s important to take time for oneself. Some of Soria’s hobbies include baking and hiking. She finds both of them to be destressors but will admit that baking can sometimes do the opposite. “A funny example would be macaroons, they’re stressful. I don’t like making those. I’ve tried a couple times and that doesn’t help the stress cause they’re really hard, but I like baking,” she said.
She initially started baking for fun during the pandemic in 2020, but after some time her hobby took off and she started delivering different types of desserts to different restaurants around town. “[I] started advertising a little bit and I’ve done some events here and there,” Soria said.
On the other hand, her love for hiking has given her the opportunity to travel to multiple places like Yosemite, Utah, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. “It’s just a way to see the world,” she said. “I go to Yosemite about two or three times a year. We did all of the five, they are called the big five national parks in Utah and those were really cool.”
Though it’s just the beginning of Soria’s journey as activities director, one might ask why Alisal? “I like the community, the people, the teachers have been fantastic, I like what the school stands for. As a Salinas native, I like being a part of the community and helping the community rise,” she said.
“[In the future], I hope to continue to grow, I don’t like to settle, I like to continue to grow and I think this position that I’m taking on is something that will help me continue to grow,” she said. “It’s ok that I don’t have all the answers right now, but I hope to still continue to grow. I hope to still be here, I’ve really enjoyed my time here.”
