8 • GCU TODAY
Like many elementary school teachers, Pérez is
required to bounce between math and vocabulary
lessons, following carefully crafted schedules to keep the
class on track. His strategy stems from what he learned
during his Rodel assignment. At one point, he shouted,
“CLASS, CLASS!” and a cacophony of well-trained
student voices replied, “YES, YES!” The brief din of
antsy conversation was quieted.
“I love how you followed the expectation, put everything away and
that it was done quietly,” Pérez said in an even tone that washed over his
Phoenix classroom.
So much of Pérez’s routine is patterned after his Rodel Exemplary
Teacher mentor, Raquel Mendoza, whose second-grade classroom at
Glenn F. Burton Elementary in Glendale was his final checkpoint to
becoming a professional teacher. Like Mendoza and other mentors who
have dedicated their lives to public school children, Pérez believes the
future of public schools in his native state is as bright as a student’s face
when — after all the patient, repetitive coaching — the proverbial light
bulb is flicked on.
After coming to GCU to earn a master’s degree in elementary
education, Pérez quickly emerged as a leader among his peers and
accelerated his career through the 16-week Rodel placement. The
program is intended to immerse future teachers in settings designed to
overcome challenges facing underperforming schools.
Back at the interactive learning board, known as “Number Corner,”
Pérez guided the class through math, money, time-telling and basic
geometry, using displays with coins in plastic holders, clocks with
adjustable hands and charts to help the students understand material on
which they will be tested.
“When I was a kid, I was thrown into the classroom,
sink or swim,” said Pérez, whose working-class parents
spoke Spanish in their home. He picked up English in
school and watched his mother struggle to understand
his teachers during after-school conferences.
“Teachers have more tools at their fingertips now
in the classroom,” Pérez said. “To me, it’s rewarding,
especially with the changes going on in education.
When I was in high school, they were barely phasing out typewriters
and introducing computers. That’s how I learned keyboarding. There
were no smart boards.”
Some of Pérez’s students still read at the kindergarten level. Others
have improved their reading skills more quickly. When he joined the
Cartwright School District and accepted the job at Sunset, five miles
west of GCU, Pérez knew he’d have to juggle a wide range of needs in
the class. Special ed teachers and reading and math specialists come in
and out most of the day, diverting students to other rooms for extra help
on speech or reading when schedules allow.
Solutions for a teacher shortage
Dr. Marjaneh Gilpatrick, GCU’s executive director of educational
outreach, said Pérez — a graduate student at the time — approached
her in 2009 to suggest that GCU partner with Rodel, since the College
of Education’s conceptual framework and mission and that of the
foundation aligned so well. With support from the dean and GCU’s
executives, she established the partnership.
“It’s expected of them as student teachers that, when they become
part of the Rodel program, they’re committing to a full, semesterlong
job interview,” said Gilpatrick, who is responsible for recruiting,
Sunset Elementary second
grader KyleWard, 8, works
through a book in the school
library. In many Arizona
classrooms, reading is a
challenge for both students to
learn and teachers to instruct.
