A typical morning for any working person involves them getting ready and planning ahead for their tasks of the day.

For Ivan Escatel, his day begins at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for work. By 7:20 a.m., he’s already out of his home and dropping his son at school. Afterwards, Escatel arrives at Orestimba High School where he teaches human anatomy and physiology, biology, and Advancement Placement biology.

After stepping foot in his classroom, Escatel turns his attention to the lesson plans he’ll be teaching for three subjects. Now in his tenth year of teaching, he understands the importance of time management.

Another aspect of his daily routine is checking his email inbox. Recently, Escatel received a message that recognized him for his work as an instructor. It was from the University of Yale and it informed that he was the recipient of its educator award.

Upon reading the message, Escatel was surprised, but didn’t believe it was real at first. After finding out on the university’s website that he was recognized for the accomplishment, Escatel said he was “super humbled” for the recognition.

“I opened up an email, and I honestly thought it wasn’t real,” he said. “I ended up going on their website and it was true. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is awesome.’”

The accolade, given by the university’s educator recognition program, honors educators throughout the world who have supported and inspired their students.

The nomination process starts with incoming Yale students recommending an instructor to a committee composed of Yale admission officers. Afterwards, the committee reviews the nominations and chooses the recipients.

Escatel was nominated by Genesis Nunez. Nunez graduated in May as the class valedictorian. She’s attending Yale where she’s majoring in the history of science, medicine and public health to become a doctor.

Of the 307 nominees, 67 individuals were selected for the award, according to the university’s website. Escatel was one of 50 instructors chosen for the award. He received a congratulatory letter and a plaque for the accomplishment.

Orestimba High Principal Aaron Souza said the recognition is not only indicative of Escatel’s success, but also the excellence of the site’s instructors despite being in a rural area like Newman.

He added that to have a former student attend Yale “is extremely special” and speaks volumes of the resources offered at the site to put a student at an Ivy League school.

“It shows our kids can accomplish anything that they desire and that our teachers are pushing our kids to go to that high of an academic level in the United States,” Souza said.

Escatel’s journey to becoming a teacher

Teaching was not something that Escatel had in mind when he graduated from Orestimba High in 1997. Instead, he wanted to become a doctor and attended UC Santa Barbara to major in biology.

During his time down south, he also worked at a Rite Aid and received his pharmacy technician license. But after getting a glimpse of what’s done in the profession, Escatel changed his mind.

Around that time, he had also dropped out due to personal matters. He later attended Stanislaus State to obtain his bachelor's degree in Biology. His first post graduate job was a field technician for the Turlock Irrigation District (TID).

In his role, Escatel was responsible for sampling and analyzing the water and taking his findings into a lab for further analysis. He had the role for two years, he said.

Just as he was settling in life, Escatel, along with millions of Americans, were hit with adversity through the Great Recession. In a time of global economic crisis, Escatel had to work at three jobs, an O’Reilly Auto Parts shop in Los Banos, a CVS in Patterson and for the city of Patterson.

But with any life setback, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. For Escatel, that opportunity came when he was offered a full-time job for the city of Newman.

The full-time position not only provided stability, but also some time to get involved with Orestimba High’s varsity football team as an offensive line coach. That participation would play a significant role in his future career.

Seeing the players he’d coach grow up within a year felt rewarding for him, Escatel said. “It’s the growth in students,” he said. “It’s helping them out along the way, being like a guide, that kind of motivates me.”

This later led to Escatel pursuing his teaching credentials and becoming a teacher at the site in the 2017-18 school year.

While he earned recognition for his work, Escatel said he wants to continue leaving a positive impact on his students and believes there’s ways he can improve as an instructor.

“The recognition is great, but at the same, we [have] to keep moving,” Escatel said. “If anything, let’s get better now.”