RE Log - Fall 2023

8 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2023 Putting students first A framed picture in Rodriguez’s office reads “Stay humble.” There is also an old issue of Time magazine with a cover headline that reads: “The Power of Joy.” Rodriguez’s colleagues say she possesses humility and joy in abundance. During her tenure on the Everglades Campus, Rodriguez taught at least one English class every year. She helped create the middle school advisory program, led tours of the middle school for prospective families, and made frequent home visits to students struggling during the pandemic (meeting with them masked and outside). After a year in the La Brisa administrative house as the interim head, Rodriguez decided to move back to the Pagoda. She wanted to be closer to students and more accessible to teachers in the traditional center of campus. “Rachel’s very inclusive,” Chief Operating Officer and Interim Head of the Upper School David Clark ’86 said. “She cares so much about making sure that everyone around her gets what they need, the support they need … Her empathy for the wellbeing of children is ingrained in her. You can feel it when you talk to her. You can feel it when she talks to students. You can feel it when she’s out there. “She’s always in the moment. She wants to make sure she hears you, she listens to you, she supports you, and she does the same with the faculty and kids.” Clark arrived to Ransom Everglades at the same time that Rodriguez took over as Interim Head of School, and they immediately connected. They work together daily and communicate constantly. Clark said Rodriguez matches her kindness with extraordinary dedication and determination to get the job done. In fact, another framed picture in Rodriguez’s office reads, “Dream big.” “She ultimately is a person that will put in whatever time is needed to ensure that the success of our school is paramount,” Clark said. “I can’t say enough about how I appreciate working with her and teaming with her.” Boston beginnings Born in Boston, Rachel Rodriguez spent her earliest years in student housing at Brandeis University, where her parents resided as her father worked toward his PhD. Rodriguez recalls joyful hours reading and writing with her father, who served as a university professor at two colleges and also worked as a policymaker in Washington, D.C. Now 87, he continues his career, working at a non-profit that helps bring judges and scientific experts together; his latest interest is examining the impact of artificial intelligence. Like many children at six or seven years old, Rodriguez aspired to great things – and she also loved her dolls. When her paternal grandmother offered to knit her an outfit for one of the dolls, Rodriguez requested a pilot’s outfit. “Nana said, ‘Rachel, oh no, girls can’t be pilots,’” Rodriguez recalled. “And I looked at her and said, ‘My daddy says I can be whatever I want to be.’ She said, ‘No, you can’t be a pilot.’ I said, ‘Well, don’t knit me anything then, because I want to be a pilot.’” A few years later, Rodriguez’s grandmother relented and knitted the pilot’s outfit. Rodriguez’s father not only encouraged his daughter and her siblings to work toward meaningful careers, he expected it. He laid out an aspirational road map that his daughter was happy to follow. “My dad never made any excuse for anything we did,” Rodriguez said. “We had to be accountable. We had to be independent. He was very influential on me, because of his insatiable thirst for learning and intellectual curiosity.” Off to South Florida Despite her early pilot ambitions, Rodriguez had not settled on a career plan when she arrived for her first year at the University of Rhode Island. A visit to her mother in South Florida persuaded her that college would be more enjoyable in warm weather and sunshine, so she decided to transfer. She enrolled at Florida International University and took a part-time job at a nearby gynastics school. Rodriguez paid “To see that kind of person leading our school is so important. You need someone equitable and fair to all; it’s what our school needs to cultivate the brightest and the best.” – Mya Wright ’17 Rachel Rodriguez and Mya Wright ’17 flank Mya’s mother, Donna Thomas-Jones