Many students at Liberty High School wonder what it would be like if they were in the place of their teacher. Some students may dream of one day becoming a teacher of elementary schoolers or middle school students, but Ms. Rodriguez chose to be a teacher in the same place that she used to be a high school student.
Summer Rodriguez, most commonly known as Ms. Rod by her students, is a teacher at Liberty High School in which she currently teaches English 10 and AP English Literature and Composition. She also attended and graduated from Liberty, before she attended the University of California, Berkeley. An interview was conducted with Ms. Rod to further discover her experience with the transition of being a high school student, to a high school teacher.
Did you know that you wanted to be a teacher at Liberty when you were still in school?
I did not know that I wanted to be a teacher, yet alone a teacher at Liberty while I was still a student at LHS. I had always been a “teacher,” whether that be teaching dance or tutoring Algebra II, but I did not know that education was my calling until my senior year of college when I student-taught back here at Liberty.
How has Liberty changed since you were a student here?
Liberty has changed in many ways since I was a student here. Liberty, thankfully, has a more diverse student population than it did when I went here. There are still approximately the same number of students as there were when I graduated, but at that time everyone (Oakley, Brentwood, Knightsen, Discovery Bay, Byron) came to LHS. Freedom opened the fall after I graduated; Heritage in 2005. The actual campus has changed significantly as well. There was only one gym, the I Wing didn’t exist, the E Wing was all portables. The portables of the K Wing didn’t exist. There was the old pool, no J wing. S Wing was still here and my old locker is actually right across from Mr. Reinders’ room.
How does it feel to now be coworkers with the people who used to be your teachers?
At first, it was very strange. It took me probably ten years to call Mr. Cornwell “Lloyd.” At this point, there are only three teachers on campus that were my former teachers, but there are others who were here when I was a student and have been huge support systems over the past 23 years, particularly Mrs. MacDonald and Gooch (they’re my rocks – superstars!) Now, I have a few former students who are working here as well, so I have come full circle.
Do you think you have a better understanding/connection with your students since you’ve been in the exact same place they are in at Liberty?
I think that having been a student at Liberty allows me to have empathy for students, particularly in relation to what it means to grow up in this area. There is much more to do now than there was when I was a teen, but in many respects, this area is still a little isolated and limiting. I
came back to Liberty in hopes of making a difference, of helping students to have a voice, to be exposed to a world beyond this area in the same ways many of my teachers at LHS had done for me.
Were there any added challenges or benefits of being a teacher at the same place you went to high school?
Challenges – teaching my former classmates and friend’s kids can be a little weird at times, as can teaching my former student’s children (that makes me feel incredibly old). Benefits – the idea of “paying it forward” – to give back to the school community that helped to mold me. I also think it’s a benefit to know where Liberty has come from in order to help to mold it for a better future.
Ms. Rod is known as a supportive, influential, and motivating teacher to every student that has had her as a teacher. She offers a support system and pushes students to do their best in any way possible. She devotes herself to making her classroom, campus, and world a more accepting and inclusive place for all.
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Cover photo courtesy of Ms. Rodriguez
David Arnone is a staff writer for The Lion's Roar. You can learn more about the writer by clicking here.
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