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Jennifer Rodriguez of William D. Slider Middle School named VFW Teacher of the Year
Summary
Jennifer Rodriguez, an English teacher at William D. Slider Middle School, was named the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year in recognition of her civic and patriotic education work. In brief remarks she thanked veterans and urged greater recognition of educators.
Jennifer Rodriguez, an English teacher at William D. Slider Middle School, was named the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year and thanked veterans and the community for the honor.
The award recognized Rodriguez's “outstanding dedication to teaching and her commitment to inspiring students through civic and patriotic education,” organizers said. Rodriguez said the recognition was meaningful because it highlighted the relationship between veterans and teachers.
"This is an amazing experience," Rodriguez said. "Um the honor of the these veterans, you know, our veterans, our military, how much respect and love that they have for teachers, it's out of this world. It's amazing." She added that educators are "our future to our children" and that recognizing teachers is important: "if we don't recognize them, then who is going to recognize them?" Rodriguez compared honoring teachers to recognizing first responders and said, "we have to appreciate the ones that actually put in the hard work and don't get paid a lot and they do it from the heart." She concluded by saying people who "volunteer or teach or just do things from the heart are the most valuable people or assets that we have today."
The recognition highlights local efforts to connect civic education with community organizations; no further actions or follow-ups were announced at the event.
