2 minute read
Homecoming
These alums now stand at the head of the class
High school is a time of memories, growth and learning, but most of us, if we had the opportunity, would never return to our former high schools. After graduating, we leave high school in the past and dive head first into the future.
However, several alumni have traded in their backpacks for briefcases to return to their alma maters as faculty. Read about what motivated these former students to reenter the classroom in a very different role.
School dayS: Rivas describes himself as an “average student” in high school. “I wasn’t an A student or necessarily the smartest kid in the class,” he says. Rivas said a lot of his high school teachers were shocked he returned to Woodrow to teach.
“They’re like, ‘We had no idea you would ever teach,’ because I wasn’t the outspoken kid,” he says. “I was the quiet kid in the back. Now my students don’t believe me that I’m quiet.”
THE JOURNEY BACK: After graduating, Rivas attended Lubbock Christian University, where he played on the basketball team. He was undecided on his major when his girlfriend at the time suggested he major in education. He took some classes and liked it.
“I didn’t want to want to go into business,” he says. “I didn’t want to sit in the office all day.”
After his first year, Rivas transferred to Dallas Christian College, where he also played basketball. He graduated from the school in December 2008 and emailed Woodrow’s principal, who was an assistant principal when he was a student, about teaching at the school.
He began teaching as a substitute in January 2009 and began working full-time when a position opened up in August.
“It just kind of fell into place,” he says. WHAT’S CHANGED: Rivas says there have been several changes since he was a student. Woodrow students now wear uniforms.
“We just showed up wearing whatever we wanted to wear,” he says.
Rivas also says the school is “more calm” than when he was a student.
“I don’t think it is as bad now as when I was a student here,” he says. “There were a lot more fights, a lot more violence going on within the students here. A lot of drugs.”
Yet, Rivas says the culture of Woodrow remains the same.
“It’s a complete world of its own here,” he says. “You get kind of the best of both worlds. You get all the Lakewood kids, and you get all the kids from East Dallas this side of the tracks. So it’s two completely different groups of people that come to this school in the same classroom. So it’s interesting to teach them.”
NEWAPPRECIATION: Many of Rivas’ high school teachers still teach at Woodrow.
“I learned how to appreciate them a lot more now than when I was here,” he says. “I used to think they just show up, tell you to do work and go home, but there’s a lot of stuff that comes with teaching, a lot of responsibility. So now that I’m in their shoes, I’m able appreciate them a lot more.”
RELATING TOSTUDENTS: On the first day of class, Rivas tells his students that he attended Woodrow as a student. He says teaching at the high school he attended has been beneficial.
“I’m able to communicate more with [students], and I understand a lot of their issues,” he says. “I’m only 25, so I’m not that much older. I teach 16-, 17-year-olds.
“I’m 10 years older, so a lot of the issues they’re struggling with I struggled with, and I’m able to relate to them and understand and be a little more flexible with work and stuff like that.”