Teacher of Week: Gena Rodriguez from Bridgeton Elementary

CRAVEN COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - This week’s Teacher of the Week for March 2 is Gena Rodriguez from Bridgeton Elementary.

Rodriguez currently teaches fifth grade, but has experience teaching students in grades pre-k, first grade and fourth grade. She is currently in her eleventh year teaching in North Carolina and says there’s no place she would rather call home than Craven County.

She is a “transplant” to North Carolina, originally hailing from upstate New York. Rodriguez says the Marine Corps and the beach are what brought and kept her in Eastern North Carolina.

Rodriguez earned her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Children’s Literature from Mansfield University in northern Pennsylvania. However, she says she’s “received the best education about teaching from her students!”

She currently lives in Havelock with her husband, daughter Ella-Grace and a few fur babies.

The person who nominated Mrs. Rodriguez wrote, “I want to nominate Mrs. Gena Rodriguez, a 5th grade teacher at Bridgeton Elementary for Teacher of the Week/year. My daughter has always struggled with school and has not brought home the best grades. She never was excited about going to school to learn, she was happy to be with friends, but never really talked about what she did during the day.

The end of last year, Mrs. Rodriguez saw how much my daughter struggled and she helped convince the school to test her, and she does have a learning disability. This year, she had the honor of having Mrs. Rodriguez again. With some changes, my child is a completely different person. She loves going to school to learn and is bringing home grades that she is so proud of and we are, too. She tells us all about her day and what she has learned. It has been a great year so far, with still more to come.

I think that Mrs. Rodriguez deserves more than Teacher of the Week, but at least if she is Teacher of the Week, she will know that she is appreciated. I want to thank her for everything she does everyday for all of the children in her class.”

Congratulations Mrs. Rodriguez!

Every week during the school year WITN will recognize a Teacher of the Week on WITN News at Sunrise. The winner receives a plaque and $100 gift card for school supplies.

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