An MYP and IB lover, Ms. Denise Rodriguez’s bubbly personality and passion for the IB was evident from the moment I entered her office. Her admiration for MYP students and love for the program was shown through her words when she talked about the IB.
Her diverse background comes from growing up in Puerto Rico and studying French and postcolonial studies in university, aids to her multicultural viewpoint, which eventually led her to working in the IB program.
‘It was eye opening. I worked a bit on French studies, literature, history, but then moved to an international school, and that’s when I really fell in love with this type of program. They were IB…and I just liked how our students think differently and make deeper, better connections. They’re more complex in the way they solve problems,” she said.
Not always wanting to work in the United States, she held a job in Puerto Rico for a short period before returning to the US.
“I wanted to be a college professor back at home in Puerto Rico, but because of the economic situation of the country, I couldn’t. I tried to go back when I was in grad school, and I worked at the [University of Puerto Rico] for a year. But in order to pay rent, not even a car or loans, I had to work three jobs… I came back to the US, looked for jobs in academia and French, but it’s a very limited field. They have like zero to three positions a year, because it’s french studies – It’s about history not the language – So not many people are interested.”
Ms. Rodriguez shows that although our lives can lead us in a direction we weren’t planning on, everything happens the way it was supposed to.
“I said, okay, let me look into schools. I was not ready to work in a middle school, because that is not what I was looking for, but that’s the position that opened up and I really liked it because [middle schoolers] are so different, awkward, funny, and so smart…It’s been eight years of teaching at the middle school level.”
Although Ms. Rodriguez still works with middle school students, she has now expanded to freshman and sophmores in the MYP program.
Already a native to the Washington DC area, she has taught at Washington International School (WIS) and Gunston Middle School in Arlington, teaching in Spanish at both schools.
Ms. Rodriguez embraces IB, admiring the aspects of an international program that links the educational experience together. She loves the connections that are made in the IB program and the non-traditional way of studying and teaching.
“This idea that you’re not studying in silos – separate disciplines – but that math should include ideas that are as global as your history class…you start thinking that you actually need science to solve environmental problems locally and globally, and the complexity of providing water to people is not just because we don’t have water here, it because it’s not raining over there.”
While the IB program is rigorous and difficult, she thinks that the IB markets its program well.
“I like how the IB uses that as its strength…they’re using it to say that the very point of studying is to make these connections. So I appreciate that about the IB, and then the fact that it’s practical. The IB draws people to do service, to be out there, to develop yourself as a citizen, as a critical thinking human being. It’s just a really good program overall.”
She knows how stressful and time consuming the MYP and IB programs can be, so her advice is to have resilience and persevere through those hard times.
“It’s like running a marathon. I am beginning to launch a personal project for 10th graders and it feels like I’m asking them a [to do] a lot…When I think about it though, it is so worth it. It prepares you so well for anything. Even if they want to be a dog groomer to the next Elon Musk, you need to be able to present a business proposal.”
Despite the stressors, she does not want new MYP students to be overwhelmed or frightened about everything that MYP can offer.
“I hope that it’s fun for them. The IB has all these opportunities for services, for connections, for deep thinking, that could feel like a lot at the beginning, but it’s also very freeing, because you can be in a science class and still be concentrated on what you’re interested in…the IB allows for a lot of choice in that sense…I hope that it feels light and fun, despite being profound and challenging.
