Meet Ms. Rodriguez, middle school Multilingual Learner Specialist at our Sarah D. Ottiwell Campus:
Why are you proud to be Latinx?
I am a proud Latina because of the language, our ways of helping each other and our community, the music, the way we value our family and how we feel everything with passion.
What does being Latinx mean to you and your family?
Being Latinx means connecting to the sweat, tears and passion that engulfed me throughout my life, transcending any challenging circumstances. If I fail, I get back up and try again. I’m resilient, I’m kind, I’m strong. My mother always raised me to be of good in the community, leaving a positive mark on every single person that I meet, no matter the hardships.
Why do you think it's important for our scholars to see Latinx people working in schools and teaching?
It is vital for our scholars to see an increase in diversity of Latin American people working as educators to critically improve the educational outcomes of our Latinx scholars and create that strong relationship between student and educator. As a former MLL/ESL student, I had Latinx teachers that truly changed my life for the better. Not only were these educators invested in me on a daily basis, but they were also helpful and passionate about what my overall educational/personal goals were. These teachers did not give up on me. I believe that having an educator that represents the Latina in me, marked me to the highest potential growth to excel and be the very first generation in my family to ever graduate high school and college to now, a Latin educator.
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