Guadalupe Centers Elementary teacher Tom Salvador Montanez [Video]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — FOX4’s Teacher of the Month for April came to the United States 13 years ago and spoke no English at all. Now, he is a first-grade teacher at Guadalupe Centers Elementary School.

Tom Salvador Montanez was born and raised in Mexico. Growing up, he always wanted to be an architect until his entire life changed.

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In 2011, at 15 years old, Montanez left Mexico and moved to the Kansas City metro. He attended Shawnee Mission North High School where two teachers changed the course of his life.

“They were always helping me, always behind me, so I was like, I want to be a role model for students. So I decided to go into teaching,” Montanez said.

After high school, he attended the Johnson County Community College and then UMKC. In the spring of …