Texas teacher Yasmin Rodriguez, MEd ’25 wants her students to love reading as much as she does.
So when she was challenged to try her hand at grant writing for her EDUC 794: Culminating Experience course at Chaminade, she knew instantly what her appeal to the community would be: Funds to buy new and engaging books for her classroom that showcased multiculturalism.
Rodriguez submitted the grant request to DonorsChoose.org, a site that allows anyone to contribute to school projects and classroom needs, and within a few short days had met her goal of $1,000. From there, the fun part began. She got her students involved in choosing the titles on Amazon.
And before long, boxes of books started arriving at her classroom door.
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Rodriguez said her students were overjoyed to open the boxes and shelve the books, which included nonfiction and fiction titles. There were even some fun comic books in the mix.
Katrina Roseler, Ph.D., associate professor of Education, teaches EDUC 794 and said Rodriguez stood out for her commitment to service, justice and community building.
“While all students complete a professional development project, like a grant proposal, very few actually follow up and submit their grants for funding and she’s the first that I know whose grant was funded before the term was over!” Roseler said.
Rodriguez teaches fifth grade at a public school in San Antonio, Texas. She received her bachelor’s degree in 2016 from St. Mary’s University, Chaminade’s Marianist sister school in Texas, and subsequently jumped at the opportunity to pursue her Master’s of Education fully online at Chaminade.
Her concentration is instructional leadership, which Rodriguez says was a perfect fit. Through coursework and online class discussions, she said, she’s been able to better tailor her curriculum to the needs of her students. Rodriguez teaches a bilingual Spanish-English class so individualization is key.
“Several of our classes have focused on building differentiated modes for students to engage in their learning,” she said. “Sometimes it’s just little adjustments that make a big difference. And the Chaminade program was very good because it provided different ways to learn about our students. We were able to reflect on learning styles and teaching methodologies.”
Rodriguez says she’s known she wanted to become a teacher since she was in the first grade.
“There’s nothing else I ever wanted to do,” she said.
Her advice to students interested in pursuing a career in education: Know the first few years in the classroom will be the toughest. “There’s so much you don’t learn in classes,” she said. “But every year, it gets a little easier. And I’ve learned to find the joy in the little things and the wins.”
Rodriguez also gets excited about watching her students grow and achieve their goals.
“I push them to do their best,” she said.
Her graduate studies at Chaminade have also helped her more quickly recognize the learning supports her students need. That was one of the reasons she wanted to refresh her classroom’s bookshelf. She said her students just weren’t getting excited about the outdated books she had.
Now independent reading time is something they look forward to.
“It was such a good way to refresh their brains and get lost in reading,” she said.
