Ricci Rodgers literally falls asleep every night researching the answers to students’ questions.
In her 21st year as the librarian and second year as the robotics sponsor and coach at Roosevelt-Wilson Elementary, Rodgers gets a lot of questions. She said the kids keep her challenged, especially when it comes to her robotics students.
“I honestly didn’t know what I was signing up for, but I’ve come to live and breath it,” Rodgers said. “I’ve been on a steep learning curve going from no experience to having to learn the curriculum, finding curriculum, building curriculum … and these kids have so many questions and directions.
“A friend of mine jokes that I spend all of my time with my students even when I’m not with them.”
It’s why she’ll regularly spend a full day – 7:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. – working with the students at Roosevelt-Wilson. The day is packed, starting off with the Kinder Buddies Book Club, a mentoring program she started with fourth grade students and kindergartners. Twelve fourth-graders volunteered to mentor 12 kindergarten students that have been identified as needing extra support.
“It’s the cutest thing ever; they get a really good relationship,” Rodgers said. “We come into the library and they teach the kindergartener reading. We have book bags and they make books. Eleven were actually brought up to speed last semester and graduated (from the program).”
As the librarian, Rodgers said she sees every student in the school every three days as they visit during their teacher’s conference period to checkout books or do lessons. Every visit starts with a “good day greeting” – a heart, a hug or a fist bump.
“My favorite thing to do is to tell every kid, every day, ‘I love you,'” she said. “That’s what I look forward to. They need love and belonging before you can ever get to learning. That’s why I do that.”
Rodgers said her day, her job, is all about the kids – 100 percent.
“No matter what kind of day you’re having, your job is to inspire the kids to be all they’re called to be,” she said. “Finding out what kids want to be, who they want to be when they grow up and calling out greatness in kids – that’s the best part of my day.”
