David Rodgers has been teaching at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School for a little over a year now, but just seven years ago, he was walking these halls as one of us.He describes being back as “pleasantly uncanny,” even calling it a full circle effect. Having been a student here, Rodgers feels more empathetic towards not only the teachers in the school, but the students as well. He feels a sense of understanding towards his student– knowing that the workload is tough, extracurriculars take up a lot of time, and balancing it all is not easy. According to Meredith Ehlers ‘18, “he’s a chill guy and it’s impressive that he’s stepping out of his field to teach physics and giving it his all!” However, to him the coolest part about teaching at WY is being able to call all of his former teachers by their first names.

In high school, it is easy to fall into a mindless routine of waking up, going to school, doing extracurriculars, and then going home each day. Rodgers, who was on the cross country and track teams, recalls falling into that same routine. Now, he realizes that he took a lot of things for granted as a student, the biggest being the education that is available to students at WY. There is an overall sense of privilege just by being at WY because the education each student receives is of the highest caliber and the opportunities provided to students are like no other. Jared Clark ‘18 noted that Mr Rodgers “makes you realize the importance of what you are learning.”

Rodgers also spoke to us about his time in Morocco a few summers back where he helped a professor do research for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (WY’s southern campus). He fell in love with the country, and especially Moroccan culture. He emphasized the importance in Moroccan culture of being appreciative of the small things in life and not living each moment on-the-go. Enrique Fuentes ‘18 was struck by “the energy of his class and how it incorporates so much appreciation of the material. Nothing is ever just a story, it is always so much more and he has helped me realize that about literature.” 

Huge thanks from the staff at the Beacon and DubTV to Mr. Rodgers for agreeing to be interviewed for this article.

If you would like to see the interview click here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/IloarM5CiPI

If you are interested in seeing the bloopers for this video click here: https://youtu.be/jDLmxDC3_vs