{"id":212554,"date":"2023-03-15T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?p=212554"},"modified":"2023-03-08T11:29:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T16:29:57","slug":"antonio-garcia-01-turning-around-schools-and-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/2023\/03\/15\/antonio-garcia-01-turning-around-schools-and-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonio Garcia \u201901 Turning Around Schools \u2013 and Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

You might say that Antonio Garcia \u201901 was destined to become a leader. \u201cMy father passed away when I was just a baby,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was just me, my mom, and my grandmother. I felt very protective of our little family and knew the importance of contributing to the household. I began working when I was 12 years old.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia\u2019s growth as a leader continued in high school when he was co-captain of his wrestling team in his senior year. Still, the idea of attending college seemed formidable. \u201cMy family emigrated from Colombia and I was part of the first generation to go to college,\u201d he says. \u201cMontclair seemed like a good fit because my cousin had enrolled there. As for majors, I didn\u2019t have a lot of guidance. I always thought of myself as entrepreneurial and saw myself as a leader, so I decided to study management.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There were a few bumps in the road for Garcia, however, \u201cI didn\u2019t get accepted on my first application,\u201d he recalls. \u201cMy high school counselor helped me on my second try, but I had to start out as a non-matriculated student.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia persisted. A life insurance benefit left by his father helped cover the cost of his education, but Garcia still needed to work to make ends meet. By the time he graduated, his debt load was growing. It is small wonder that the promise of economic security led him to a job in finance.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was only one problem: he didn\u2019t like it. \u201cI found the field to be too money-oriented,\u201d he says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t feeling rewarded on a deeper level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to his corporate job, Garcia was coaching a junior wrestling team in Bergen County. One of the parents saw his gift for working with youth and suggested he consider pivoting to a career in education. Perhaps, she suggested, he might consider substitute teaching as a way to give the field a try.<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia continued coaching and tested the waters as an early education teacher substitute. It clicked. \u201cI saw the power of public work,\u201d he says. \u201cIt felt really good to know that I was making a positive impact in the community, and on people\u2019s lives.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia completed New Jersey\u2019s alternate route track to teacher certification and joined the faculty in Teaneck, New Jersey. In addition to teaching at the elementary and middle school level, Garcia began to build his resume by supervising the district\u2019s math and literacy summer program. He was a lead teacher for Saturday test preparation programs, chaired the School Improvement Committee, analyzed curriculum and school data, and coached the high school wrestling team.<\/p>\n

The more involved Garcia became in the life of the district, the more he thought about how he might approach managing a school. He decided to earn a master\u2019s in Educational Leadership and Administration from Kean University in 2008, and when an opportunity arose to become assistant principal for Passaic Public Schools, he went for it. Within a few years, he had turned around one of the worst-performing schools in the district and helped to graduate the Class of 2018 with the highest graduation rate in recent history. He also helped open a school in the neediest section of the city. The true reward for Garcia was connecting with youth, helping them to see, and pursue their own potential.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Garcia became the principal of Passaic County Technical Institute (PCTI), the County\u2019s magnet high school for students interested in technical vocational careers. It was an opportunity to help Passaic County\u2019s youth get the education they deserve. \u201cPCTI offers nearly 4,000 students 14 educational pathways on a 55-acre campus,\u201d he notes with pride. \u201cStudents have access to so many opportunities for growth \u2013 sports, diverse extracurricular activities, and exceptional academic programs. There is something here for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is prestige in attending PCTI,\u201d Garcia continues. \u201cWe are providing a college experience before students even get to college. Students who choose to enter the workforce after high school will be just as prepared to succeed as those who go on to college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Garcia left the field of finance in his rearview mirror, he still draws on his Montclair management education. \u201cAt Montclair, I studied the history of management, how organizations work and what it means to be an effective leader,\u201d he says. \u201cNow that I am in a leadership position, I see the parallels between what makes a corporation successful and what I need to do to lead people and the school into the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI rely on my understanding of law and policy, but I also need to connect to my colleagues,\u201d he says. \u201cI want them to continue to grow, and this involves accountability, collaboration, building trust, and demonstrating my own commitment to the work. It is so important to lead by example.\u201d<\/p>\n

The example Garcia sets includes continuing his own education and engaging in communities beyond PCTI. In 2021, he completed a Certificate in School Management and Leadership at Harvard University. And he remains involved with Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity Inc., which he pledged while an undergraduate at Montclair in 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoining the fraternity was a turning point in my college experience and in my life,\u201d he says. \u201cIt took me from hanging around with my town friends to becoming a brother in a group of Latino males with similar stories to mine. Alumni would visit to mentor us and help guide us into life after college, too. It was transformative to meet, for the first time, a Latino male who was a successful professional.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The brotherhood continues to gather for holidays, family picnics, community service projects, and to work with and mentor undergraduates throughout the state. \u201cWe do a lot of positive work in the Paterson area,\u201d he says, adding that he is currently serving on the organization\u2019s alumni advisory board for North Jersey. In 2010, Garcia was named Lambda Theta Phi Brother of the Year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia is thoughtful about his college years, about his involvement in Greek life, and about the influence of both on his journey to adulthood and professional success. \u201cÌÇÐÄvlog and Lambda Theta Phi offered me opportunities to meet a diverse group of executives and learn about different careers and corporations,\u201d he says. \u201cThe University celebrated multiculturalism, bringing people together and showing us what the world outside our communities was like. I also learned to become independent while developing good core values.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia is astounded by the growth of the University \u2013 \u201cthere are buildings where I used to park!\u201d \u2013 and is excited to see President Jonathan Koppell\u2019s commitment to community service. \u201cAs an educator, I appreciate the importance of encouraging students to engage in organizations and community service. These things add value to your career preparation and help lead to a successful, rewarding life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As principal of the Passaic County Technical Institute, Antonio Garcia \u201901 has found his leadership niche and is helping thousands of students chart their paths to success. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":326,"featured_media":212564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76_alumni-news-and-events","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/326"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212554"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212565,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212554\/revisions\/212565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}