The Heart of Education

By Marianna Ambriz Salgado, Writer | March 21, 2025

Ms. Rodriguez (Middle), alongside her 11th and 12th grade students at the SoCal Beat Battle. Photo courtesy of Mrs. Harris, M.E.Di.A Magnet Coordinator.

Any person can pick up a teacher's manual and relay information for students to learn. However, that doesn’t mean that that individual is an outstanding educator. An outstanding educator is really someone who has the passion for teaching along with the ability to be flexible, the gift of patience, and a desire to continue learning.

Carson High School junior Amber Rodriguez agrees. “An 'outstanding educator', in my opinion, would be someone who's able to provide the support and help that their students provide. They're able to answer any and all questions or they manage to explain their topic easily enough for students to understand," said Rodriguez.

With CHS being a large campus, we are lucky enough to have a couple of outstanding educators who genuinely care.

More specifically, one outstanding educator was announced on February 7th by officials, including the LAUSD superintendent, was Ms. Rodriguez.

This award was presented at the Southern California Beat Battle ceremony held at Spotify Headquarters and sponsored by Young Producers Group and Soundtrap.

“This actually meant quite a lot to me. I cried when I received the news, and I cried a few more times leading up to the days until I finally received the award," said Rodriguez. "I genuinely had zero expectations of winning because I knew it was for music educators from all of Southern California, not just LAUSD.”

She mentioned more about how this was a humbling mentioning that the award felt like a physical representation of how her students felt about her as an educator while representing the love that she has for her students.

Not only does Ms. Rodriguez show effort in her teaching which obviously showcases that she cares, her students gladly reciprocate the information that she gives them.

CHS senior Justine Baliete shared his appreciation for Ms. Rodriguez.

“I find everything about Ms. Rodriguez motivational," said Baliete. "When students may be feeling at their lowest, she'll be there to give some type of motivation. When students are feeling burnt out and express this to her, she'll do something called a 'sound healing,' which is when students write small poems, songs, or haikus and will read them out to the class.”

For a teacher, their job is to teach. They don’t have exact requirements that dictate exactly how, and to be honest, they are not even forced to care.

In the end, it's the educators who truly support their students and their choices that every school is fortunate enough to have.

With Ms. Rodriguez, multiple students have had the privilege to enjoy her expertise, and for many, the award is well-deserved.