001[Music] Heat. [Applause] Well, welcome Rodney, first guest. The pressure is on. Thank you for having me. Well, thank you so much for being here. So, I guess we'll just get started. Um, you're Everett, born and raised, right? So, why don't we take it back to little Rodney? Just tell me a little bit about growing up in Everett, you know, going through school and yeah, tell me your story. Absolutely. No, so like you said, born and raised in Everett. I grew up with my mom and dad on Chelsea Street with my three sisters. Um, first generation so they all come from El Salvador and you know I was the first one to be born here and you know we just got started with life and stuff like that. So um growing up went through all the
002ever public schools never left currently still here as well still work here and you know try to be involved with the community as much as I could. And so you said you're first gen first gen immigrant well your parents you were born here um first gen college student as well. as well. Yes. Awesome. And how how was it? I mean, so I'm firstg as well, also grew up in Everett few years before you. I went through the school system and I know for myself personally, it was interesting because we were one of the very few Brazilian families in Everett. So, I'm just curious, how was it your how was your experience? Did you have a lot of colleagues that were or classmates that were also adoring? Was there more of a diversity by the time
003you were in school? Yeah, so growing up I had it was a mix. You know, we know Everett's very diverse. Um, growing up there wasn't as much, but as I got older and got into the middle school, late middle school and high school, all friends were coming from different areas. You know, a lot of friends as well were first generation. And you kind of had that pressure on you, right? Like, all right, you're the first generation, you're going to start something new. Didn't really know much about college, what to expect from it, what how to apply, you know, things like that. But there was a lot of support, which was helpful. Um, and you know, my dad as well helped me a lot just to find those resources and reach out and you know, we
004were able to succeed at it, you know, but I'd say it was it was a good pressure to have as well that pushed me to do better. Yeah, of course. Of course, of course. Pushing you to do better. I know you were involved in sports. You want to tell us a little bit about, you know, your time playing soccer, being a soccer star for EHS? Oh, it was great. I mean, I started playing when I was four. That's when it all started. I remember just being at home dribbling the ball in the living room, shooting on my little goal. uh playing with anytime I could see a soccer ball that was my thing. It was on the playground at school. I was on my first official team at 6 and from then I played on
005all the way up until high school. So I got to meet a lot of different friends from different schools, different cities and it just it was a great experience, you know, learned so many things like leadership, teamwork, hard work, discipline, all that type of stuff. Um once I got to the high school, you know, it was more intense, right? you're playing for your city, you're representing the school, yourself, your family, and there was a lot of support behind it as well. By the time I got there, like I said, it was very diverse. Met a lot of friends. Um, and I had a great time. I mean, honestly, representing the school was great. I was part of great teams that made the playoffs. Um, my senior year, I was the captain of the team as
006well. So, that was an honor for me to just, you know, be a leader, but also represent the city and create the best images possible. Now, do you have any lessons or anything that you take from that time being a player that you instill today in your players or that you share with them? There's so much. I mean, you know, as a freshman, my goal was, you know, be as good as possible on that freshman team, but also get to know the older players who had gone through what I had gone through. Make as many connections as possible with the staff, with the coaches, you know, have that relationship. And as I kept going through school, I realized it's very important that you stick to yourself and you have your goals in mind, you know.
007And my goal was by the time I'm a senior or junior, I want to make sure I'm a starting varsity player as well as a captain because I loved leading, you know, and from a young age, I kind of knew a lot of people sort of went to me for answers or they kind of looked at me as someone who knew a lot of things. So, I knew it was in my best interest as well to push myself to get to that level. Um, a lot of my players, I don't like to reminisce too much with them because it's, you know, it's their time now. But I do like to look back from time to time and tell them, you know, we were successful because we did certain things as student athletes. And that's the
008biggest thing that we push for, making sure that they understand student before the athlete and you're going to be represented by the way, you know, you show yourself every day. You know, if you want to be a good athlete, you have to be a good student. You got to be a good person. And that's really my biggest goal when I took over this job. I wanted to teach young boys how to become men, you know, that was that was the biggest thing. Oh, that sounds so nice. That was great. Um, did you always want to be a coach or did that just kind of happen naturally along the way? Honestly, I you know, at a young age I realized I understood the game a lot quicker than my teammates. Um, I wasn't always the most
009athletic, but I was the hardest worker at all times. You know, I made sure that I could push myself at any point, push my teammates, which was a big thing. As I got into high school towards the end, I realized I love playing, but for some reason, watching the game, teaching a younger generation how to play was also an interest of mine. So, my senior year, I began coaching the little ones, preschoolers, and I had fun with it. And, you know, throughout college as well, I kept coaching and that's what honestly brought me back to Everett. Ended up working there. So, it was it was coaching first and not teaching. Yes, it was. Yeah. So, did you play did you play in college as well? No, I wanted to, but you know, responsibilities, having to
010work through college, being first generation, you don't really understand what you should be doing in terms of prioritizing your work, school. And obviously, academics was my priority. I wanted to make sure I get that in line. So, I focused on that rather than playing. Um, but coaching kept me in the game. And I will say now, I do prefer coaching than playing. But I do like kicking the ball around with the players from time to time as well. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure forget that. I can absolutely relate. I also didn't play in college and it's it's a big regret of mine but it was same thing that first generation there's so much pressure right they they call it the immigrant paradox right you have you're trying to make right by all the sacrifices that
011your family made for you to be there so you're trying to be your best and and you just naturally sometimes miss out on some things because you don't know or you don't know what to ask the question and those are lessons I like to tell my players now you know that I unfortunately didn't get to play and I really regret that like you said but there's just so much talent out there that I like to tell them like listen you have the opportunity. Yeah. And I don't I would prefer if you didn't follow the path I did, you know, more so if you have the opportunity to play, go for it because we can't go back in time, you know, those things you want to make sure you embrace and they they're fortunate to have
012somebody that can say, "Hey, like this is what you do, right?" Because I think a lot of times, especially when you think about Everra in a community that's so diverse, you have students, you know, so many students like ourselves, first generation who are kind of trying to figure, you know, things out and not necessarily just first generation immigrant, like just a first year in your family to ever go to college, which comes with so many different, you know, nuances to be able to say, hey, like it's okay, you can play soccer. You don't have to, you know, go to D1. Like you can still have fun. You can still be competitive even, you know, at a lower level, which is not really lower level. Absolutely. So, it's good that they have that, you know, with
013you. So, you started coaching the little ones while you were still in high school and then you went to college and what did you where did you go and what did you study? I went to UMass Boston. Um, fun fact I out of all the schools I applied to that was the only school I didn't tour and I ended up going there and honestly I'd say it was a blessing cuz everything I learned I appreciate and those experience were just I was able to bring with me and you know bringing to the the students as well at the high school that I'm there. I majored in exercise health science. I got my bachelor's degree in four years and I joined the master's program my junior year. So I ended up completing both degrees in five
014years which again was another blessing that you know I got in my time there. So I really enjoyed it. Go Beacons. Absolutely. So fun fact it was the one school I toured and I fell in love with the waterfront and that's why I view went there because of the view. Oh yeah absolutely. It was great. So then exercise and health science obviously that's not you know how did you how did that lead you into becoming a science teacher? So when I went to college, I really didn't have an idea like most first generation like we spoke about. So as I got in there, I realized whatever you did in high school is not what you're going to do in college. You know, it's a completely different ball game. And I learned over time as I
015got older as well, you need to have good connections, good experiences, and honestly just build that resume that most people say, right? So uh my junior going into my senior year, I was able to intern at Harvard with the strength and conditioning staff. M. So my goal was really to work with athletes, which again I was already doing coaching, but I wanted to get them physically ready for whatever game they were going for, right, with basketball, football, soccer, whatever it was. So I interned at Harvard for 3 to 4 months and it was a great experience cuz it got me out of my comfort zone. It really showed me like you're in a 24,000 foot square facility. You need to yell to athletes and make sure they understand what they're doing is going to help
016the performance on the field, on the court, wherever it is. and it got me out of my shell and it helped me understand what it takes to be disciplined at that level. Consistently perform, but also consistently push yourself, right? Um cuz I think as athletes we tend to kind of get comfortable a lot of the time cuz we're already there. We made it. We did what we accomplished. Now what you know? So I did that and then for my master's program I interned at Bentley University. So again, another great academic school and I was working with the swim and dive and football teams there. Again, getting them ready in the gym. And that strength and conditioning experience was great for me because I learned how to program for athletes, how to communicate with them, but
017also how to develop relationships. you know, being a young intern with other young athletes, you know, you kind of try to keep that professionalism and it can be difficult at times, but as long as you know what you're doing and it looks like you know what you're talking about, they trust you, you know, and obviously with time, you know, early mornings, late nights, they they get comfortable with you and you grow as a person. So, I completed that. After that, I was working as an EKG tech at Whitten here in Everett and I really enjoyed that because it was a clinical experience. I was working with patients, which is a completely different game than athletes. But it taught you that bedside manner, you know, how to be caring, how to be prompt, how to make
018sure that if someone's going through a bad time, you're able to speak to them and be honest with them, right? And make sure that they get the treatment they need. And then I moved on to be a personal trainer in Medford at Blink Fitness. And again, that was another experience where I knew I had to apply everything I learned. So while my time at Blink, I got a phone call one day that there was an opening at the school that there was a science teaching uh position there and if I wanted to, you know, if I was interested, I could definitely go for it. And at the time, I had just accepted the junior varsity girls soccer coaching position. So I was already there and once I got offered that, I was thinking about it
019and realized why not go back to the school where I was once at, you know, and all came full circle. Honestly, it was it was probably the biggest blessing I've gotten so far. Really? Yeah. I'm really happy. How how was it coming back for the first time as you know coach and teacher just stepping into the hallways that you had been? Oh, I I remember the first day I came in there were so many teachers that were like, "What are you doing here?" You know, and I was just happy to see them because it had been so long even though it was so short. M and just being in the same building that I was once sitting as a student and learning in I was able to come back and basically apply everything that I
020learned the past 5 years since I was there. And my biggest goal, like I said, now that I'm coaching the boys to teach them, you know, to be from boys to young men is that I wanted to be that support system that I had but didn't have enough while I was there, you know. And I think being young, fresh out of college, it gave me the opportunity to relate to them as well. And I think that's probably my biggest strength with them as well. That's awesome. Do you have any teachers that you know really inspired you or like you're inspired by and you apply some of what you saw in their classrooms that you do in your own class today? Yeah, absolutely. There's teachers that I had even back then that I enjoyed their classes
021because they were different than the rest. You know, they had their own kind of flavor to their teaching style. Um, I really never thought about going into teaching, but coaching is so similar to it that I kind of thought it was a no-brainer when I did it. Um, the first teacher that comes to mind was Mr. Oetisano. He was my sophomore English teacher. And it was just the energy he brought every morning. I mean, it was just like energetic. He made sure he related to every student. He got us working whenever it was. And even the students that were probably not as engaged, they were still engaged with him because he just had that with him. you know, he brought that energy and he wanted to help you succeed, you know, that was the biggest
022thing because that's what teachers do and it it was a big influence, you know, along with many others that I could go on and on about, but he was the first one that kind of showed me, hey, it's okay to bring that energy to class, you know, we don't have to always have that inside voice and and kind of just mellow it out, you know, we can change it up a bit. No, absolutely. And those types of teachers really stick with us. So, absolutely. Actually, fun fact, Mr. is also going to be a guest on the show. So, I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to hear that, you know, you're he inspired you in some way to apply to your own classroom today. But, you know, I think, you know, in your position as a teacher
023and a coach, like you have such an opportunity to really make an impact on students. And I'm sure that doesn't go unnoticed, but it's like we all think about this one teacher that we had, whether it was kindergarten, second grade, or high school, right? That really just one word can make such a difference, right? And really inspire you. And and I think also very fortunate that you're able to kind of come full circle and be back in your community and give back to your community and inspire other kids that you know you really see yourself in more so than if you were teaching another school because you did grow up here and you were part of the schools and you walk those halls. So it's really inspiring. Um and I'm sure it's a message that's
024not lost on you every day when you coming back. I mean I I always said it was personal because again I know exactly what they're going through. I grew up in the city. I know the good things, the bad things that come with it. You know, I know how difficult it can be to be a high school student, you know, from September all the way to May and June when you're trying to just juggle everything, extracurriculars and all that. So, I like to relate to them, understand that, hey, I I was there, but also I was able to push through it, get out of it, get my degree, and come back. So, if there is something that I can teach you is how to, you know, finish that job. So, I I absolutely take it
025personal. It's something I look forward to every day. Yeah. and you're really applying, you know, all all of that and all of that energy really. Um, first year as a head coach, you had an amazing season and had a first time ever that we had an alumni game, right? Do you want to talk about the alumni game a little bit? I was jealous I couldn't go. I I it was a great great experience to have. I mean, the season, first time head coach, I honestly didn't think I'd get it this young, but again, I was very fortunate to be in that position to do that. Um, I think the boys definitely enjoyed the season as well, which was my biggest thing. Um, I I told them that they helped me get back to having fun
026being a soccer coach, you know, and being on the field because I was able to relate to them. I was able to show them what it takes and what happens when you push yourself. U, we made playoffs, you know, after missing it last year. And again, going back to that alumni game, it was great. We had over 80 alumni ranging from 1997 to 2024, which was last year. And I was just happy that it happened, but more so just proud that people wanted to come back, you know, and they there's never been one for soccer uh for boys or the girls. And now that I was in a position to be in control of that, you know, I recently graduated as well. There's so many people that I met during my time there afterwards that
027I kept in touch and even ones that were before my time that I was able to reconnect with. So it was great, you know, having everyone come out. it got recorded which is on YouTube which is great and just seeing everyone just bond you know a lot of us hadn't seen each other in five you know years a lot of them haven't seen each other since they graduated high school so having that on a cold rainy Saturday morning you know just to see everyone come out was awesome yes it was freezing that day you had that huge turnout with the bad weather the next one are you planning a next one oh absolutely we're going to have a yearly one we'll make sure we invite everyone back as well and you know we'll eventually get
028more shirts and get everyone there and obviously the graduating class of this year, they can come back next year and join in on the fun as well. So, so when does preparation start for that? So, I mean the alumni game was this year was kind of last minute right after the season. Um, now we've been doing it since the season ended. Oh, really? You're already working? Oh, yeah. We're connecting with everyone. We're having team bonding events. We're having alumni events to reconnect everyone. And I think it's just a job that never finishes, you know? Like you can't kind of put it on the g on the break and just say, "Hey, let's take a break from it." Cuz you just can't stop. No, that makes sense. That makes total sense. So, if somebody saw this
029today and they're like, "Oh my god, I played soccer in 2004." How do how do they get in touch with you? Do they just email you? School email. Um I have a coaching Instagram as well that they can reach out to me as, you know, on there, too. We have a team Instagram that I like to make sure that everyone gets to know about so we update it regularly and you know, just to get in contact with me, I'm I'm easy. I like to make sure to make connections and and get everyone involved because that's what building that community is about. It really is. It's all about bringing people together. We have so much of that in our community. We have so many people coming back whether it's working in our schools, whether it's working
030for the city, whether it's just coming back and doing a camp, right? We have so much of that and I I again I feel very fortunate to be back in this community and to to have had that as a you know growing up and like see that happening now. I think it's a beautiful thing and you know we're so lucky to have that. So are is there going to be a girls soccer alumni game? I've been I've been working with the soccer coach uh coach Pursuit. He's he was my coach when I was at the high school as well and I got to coach with him. He actually got me into the high school realm of things. So, I've been speaking to him and I told him, you know, I'm going to do my best
031to reconnect as well and help him out because I think every sport should have an alumni game, you know, have them come back, you know, meet the current players, give them advice, be a mentor for them. Um, so we're we're definitely working on that. Absolutely. Oh, that's awesome. That's good to hear. And so what's what's new or what's what are the plans for this year, you know, next season's soccer team? Yeah, I mean, we we had a great season, you know, first year as head coach. We're looking forward to keeping that momentum, but also improving it. You know, I think soccer's been a sport in this city that it's had the talent, it's had coaches that are giving everything they can to it, but it's the consistency of keeping players back, helping them improve off
032season, which is super important that we just started our lifts two weeks ago. So, I'm in the gym with the boys. We're trying to, you know, get better, get stronger, get faster, and just keep that momentum up, you know, making sure I'm keeping them happy as well because, as we know, if athletes are happy, they're going to give their best. So just maintaining those relationships, working at it, and preparing, you know, for the season. So we're about 200 days away till we start in August and countdown's already there. You know, we're looking forward We're taking we're taking it home this year. Listen, we got to the work starts now. So as long as we keep that up, we can we can go as far as we want. Yeah. Do you have a lot of uh
033kids coming back to your team? We have about 10 returning players. I had 12 seniors this year. So it was a big class. U but there's a lot of kids that were soft even some freshman that got experience on the team. So getting them comfortable there and also showing them that hey we got to work towards something you know and I think the seniors did a very well um job as a team working together and showing them that you can actually succeed if you apply yourself and you trust it you know do you have any of those seniors going to play somewhere? We're working on that right now. You know, we're finishing the the letters, keeping up in contact with coaches. Uh but I'm I'm on top of them. Like guys, don't I don't want
034you to end up like me and not, you know, getting that experience to play. So, I'm I'm really looking forward to seeing them play at the next level. And so as we're coming to a close here, um, just, you know, if you were to give some kind of advice either for your students, for whoever's watching at home, or maybe somebody who's sitting there and thinking about coming to work in Everett or move to Everett, like what would you say, you know, just a couple words about, I guess, whatever comes to mind. So much um, again, for me it was personal. I I had so much success and I had so many people supporting me in Everett that when I came back I knew how important it was for the students and cuz you know they're
035the next generation. They're the future. Um even though I feel so close with them because I'm young as well. You have to show them and kind of guide them what is possible. I think that's something that is very restrictive in Everett sometimes. Personally, you know, coming from me, I didn't know what was out there. I didn't know what college was like. I didn't really feel prepared. Um, but when you get out there, you get thrown into the fire, you kind of have to figure it out, you know? So, I would much rather be someone they can go to, ask questions, reach out to just to say, "Hey, what did you do? How did you do it? What what did you go through good and bad to get to where you wanted to be, you know?"
036And I don't want to say I have all the answers, but I can tell you how I managed it and at least give you the tools to go out and do it, you know? That's that's my biggest thing cuz I someone gave me the tools, so I got to keep passing it on. That's that's the next step. Well, after this, if people watch you, you're going to have all kinds of students knocking on your door. Oh, they're still on target. Can I talk to you about college? Absolutely. And if you had somebody who's, you know, maybe they're on the fence, maybe they saw a job that they want to apply to in Everett and they're thinking about working for the district, you know, what would you say to them? I can say I was welcomed,
037you know, with open arms by everybody. And I think that that happens to everyone there as well. You know, you got to come in with good intentions, good spirit, and you got to want to be able to work. You know, I'm I'm someone that I can't stop really. I always like to do something. Um, and as long as you have core values like that that you want to help out the students, help out yourself as well, cuz you know, that's what we're here for as well. You know, you want to improve as a professional. Everett has the resources for that and it's something that they should definitely consider. Fantastic. Yeah. Thank you so much for sitting on the purple couch, being, you know, the first one ever. Thank you. No, I had a great time.
038I appreciate all that you said. I can't wait for the next season. Absolutely. You know, please reach out to me if you ever need, you know, ideas about community service. Absolutely. Oh, I will. I will. Um, but thank you so much again. It's such a pleasure and I can't wait to see all that you're going to do and all that your kids are going to do and, you know, I I do follow all the accounts. Awesome. Of course, it's part of my job. So, it's exciting to see where, you know, some of your seniors end up and hopefully some of them will be playing at the college level kind of following all of that. So, thank you so much. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Looking forward to seeing the stands. It's going to be
039great. Of course, we'll be there. Awesome. Thanks. All right. Thank you. [Music] [Applause]