Blanca Roriguez was a math, science, and history teacher with special education students for eight years before becoming an assistant principal at Granite Hills High School.
Rodriguez earned her degrees from College of the Sequoias and Fresno Pacific. At COS, she earned her Associate’s Degree, and she earned her Bachelor’s Degree with a special education credential at FPU. She also has two master’s degrees from Concordia University – one in special education and the other in education and administration – to go along with her administration credential. She is currently working on her doctorate. Rodriguez is deeply rooted in education and loves to learn, having seven degrees all related to education.
“I think, for me, it’s not about the degrees, it’s about learning as much as I can so that I can support anyone that I need to support, whether it’s students, staff, or adults,” Mrs. Rodriguez said. “I just like to learn. Even after I finish my doctorate, I want to study some other field, whether psychology or education, because it is important to grow and understand other things.”
She currently lives in Visalia, where she balances her personal and professional life. She is the oldest of four children and was the first in her family to go to college and graduate.
Outside the classroom, Mrs. Rodriguez enjoys reading. She says her goal is to read 75 books this year. So far she has read 40, putting her past halfway toward her goal. She is an avid fan of the author Abby Jimenez.
One surprising thing about Mrs. Rodriguez is that she had her first child in her senior year of high school. This did not hold her back from getting her education and making it this far in life.
Inspired by her Spanish teacher, Ms. Lucatero, she strives to bring that same passion into her work every day. She says she and her Spanish teacher share their first name, Blanca.
When it comes to balancing work and personal life, Mrs. Rodriguez shares how she does it all. As previously stated, she enjoys reading, but since starting work at Granite Hills, she has gotten busier and isn’t able to read much. She also enjoys coloring and anything artsy. All of this helps her stay relaxed and balanced between her career and home life.
Mrs. Rodriguez chose to become a teacher because of her Spanish teacher, Ms. Lucatero, a decision that has shaped her life ever since. At first, just like Ms. Lucatero, Rodriguez wanted to become a Spanish teacher. This changed when she got her first job as a teacher’s aide. This job involved working with students with disabilities. After working with them, she decided this was going to be her career path. This is how she got into teaching.
The most rewarding part of teaching for her is helping others, not only students with disabilities but everyone, including her staff, something she experiences every day on campus.
Over the years, she’s had memorable moments, such as a student telling her she is their favorite teacher. She says that she has redirected lots of students. Sometimes students don’t take this well and think that the person redirecting is being harsh.
“Years later, when they came back and said I was her favorite teacher. I would have never thought that because, like I said, they’re always getting in trouble or, you know, I’d always have to call their attention,” Mrs. Rodriguez said.
She also said that she really appreciated them coming back to her and saying that she is one of their favorite teachers.
Working in education is not without challenges, and Rodriguez has faced many with her new responsibility of becoming an assistant principal. With this job, she faces the challenge of time management.
“I think time management is very important, because there are a lot of things that teachers have to do, and you have to be able to manage your time and not get stressed over it,” she said.
Building relationships with students is key for administrators, and she does this by helping redirect students when they are lost or frustrated about something.
Mrs. Rodriguez offers advice to her students.
“Who you are and what you do in high school doesn’t define you as a person later on in life,” she said. “And I think that students need to take this time to learn the soft skills. For example, how to interact with other people, coming to school on time, and turning in assignments on time. All of those little soft skills are going to help students with whatever they do after high school.”
When facing challenges with students, Mrs. Rodriguez believes in trying to understand the student and what their behavior has caused.
“It’s more like, not really just giving them a consequence, but helping them see what their behavior has caused and maybe if they don’t want that consequence, what can we do differently to avoid that,” she said.
Mrs. Rodriguez stays motivated by keeping her future goals in mind and continuing to grow as an educator. Rodriguez had a goal of becoming an administrator, and staying motivated was key.
Mrs. Rodriguez is hoping to complete her doctorate in a year. She is also always looking to learn more in her job as assistant principal and hopes to become a principal in the near future.
Looking ahead 5-10 years, Mrs. Rodriguez sees herself on a cruise in Bora Bora.
“Life is tough, but so are you,” Mrs. Rodriguez said, which reflects her dedication to education.
