Childhood Memories Inspire Santa

The kindergartners’ eyes were as wide as their smiles Wednesday after Santa Claus and his elves made an early stop at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima.

“I got a green one,” Edgar Tobar, 5, said of his new Power Ranger action figure.

“Yeah. Mine is so cool too,” classmate Daniel Olea said. “It’s red.”

For each of the school’s 200 kindergarten children, Santa’s gifts of checkerboards, Tonka trucks and Barbie dolls will probably be the only presents they open this year.

“I play Santa at this school because [the children] need it,” said Jose Prado, a San Fernando real estate agent and former elementary school teacher. “A lot of these kids live in garages.”

Prado understands. When he was about their age, his father--a successful businessman in Mexico--died, leaving his family without an income, he said.

“We were poor,” Prado said. “We had no toilet and there was one shower for the whole neighborhood.”

At Christmastime, Prado remembers standing in long lines at churches in Mexico hoping for a gift. “That reminds me very much of these kids,” he said.

Prado’s mother eventually immigrated to the San Fernando Valley, earning money as a housekeeper for Encino families. When Prado was in his 20s, he also came to to the Valley.

Eventually, he earned a degree at Cal State Northridge while working at a nursery and selling vegetables and tortillas out of a van to families in Reseda, Van Nuys and Canoga Park. In 1979, after receiving his credentials, he started teaching at Pacoima Elementary School.

It was there that he first donned a Santa costume for “Project Santa”--a community service project coordinated by a few high schools each year as a way to give Christmas gifts to needy elementary school children in the Valley.

Students at Grant High School began collecting the gifts a few weeks ago after they received letters to Santa written by the Vaughn students.

“The presents they wanted ranged from coloring books to computers,” said Grant High student Gohar Gazazyan, 17, president of the school’s California Scholarship Federation club, which coordinated the gift drive.

After all the cars, dolls and games were wrapped and marked with each child’s name, the Christmas toys were put into bags for Prado to hoist over his shoulder for his appearance.

“It’s Santa! It’s Santa,” the children called as Prado entered each classroom with a resounding “Ho, Ho, Ho!”

“They’ve been asking about this day after day,” kindergarten teacher Janet Contreras said. “This was a big surprise today.”

In each of the school’s 11 kindergarten classrooms, the children gathered at Prado’s feet, anxiously awaiting their names to be called. Each sat on Prado’s lap and received a hug. When all the gifts were passed out, the room turned into a frenzy of ripped wrapping paper. Five-year-old Heather Fuentes’ gift--a 25-piece deluxe tea set--was larger than she was.

“That’s just what I asked for,” she said.

Five-year-old Martha Tovar could hardly contain herself during Santa’s stop.

“Look what I got!” she said, hoisting up a princess crown play set over the mob.

For the high school students--who stayed behind in each classroom after Santa went to his next stop--collecting the gifts was a hands-on way of bringing joy to a community.

“This is better than donating something just to anywhere,” said Bonnie Elbaz-Deckel, a California Scholarship Federation sponsor who accompanied the high school students. “This way, the kids can actually see the faces of the children . . . it’s so much fun. They just glow.”

* Personal Best is a weekly profile of an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. Please send suggestions on prospective candidates to Personal Best, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338. Or e-mail them to valley.news@latimes.com.