Derek Grainger is a special-education education assistant who has been at Santa Fe High since 2014.

Originally from Arizona, Mr. Grainger was raised in Modesto, Calif. He worked on his associate’s degree at Muscatine Community College in Iowa and also studied at Modesto Junior College in California and at Santa Fe Community College.

Mr. Grainger said he chose to be in education because he likes working with kids and that he really enjoyed attending Grace M. Davis High School in Modesto, Calif.

“I have no kids, so that’s a plus,” he explained, adding that his mom, Lori Gaumer, is a teacher at SFHS.

In high school, Mr. Grainger played inside linebacker for the Spartans the year the team won the Modesto City Title and All Central California Conference for football. He was also on the All League First Team his senior year.

In his free time, Mr. Grainger enjoys football (“Go 49ers!”), baseball (“Go A’s!”), fishing, and video games.

His motto is, “Never give up.”