RJHS January 2020 Employee and Student of the Month!

The January Employee of the Month is Cendi Vazquez! She is the Spanish teacher here at RJHS! She was nominated by Janie Duvall and this is what she had to say about Mrs. Vazquez. "This teacher can be described as an influential teacher who, in the work she does for students and teachers, does more than simply cover standards and teaching her content area.  Teaching in a school where a number of students are navigating two languages,  she is committed to their success and does whatever she can to make sure each of them leave RJHS as confident, motivated learners.  English as a second language learners face many challenges, such as learning a language, adjusting to a different culture, and the outside stressors of a world they can sometimes not know how to navigate on their own. Recently, she took her job responsibilities to the next level.  When noticing a student struggling in her class, she felt this was related to something more than simply being new to the school.  She discovered that the student was having difficulty communicating with others.  This was largely in part due to the fear of ridicule and embarrassment, when other students notice her missing and misplaced teeth.  She soon found out that this young lady and her family did not have the knowledge or resources to access any medical support.  The discomfort, pain, and embarrassment the young lady felt would simply be something she would have to endure.  Though this is where most would stop, she continued to seek out a solution.  She began by asking various inner school resources, but eventually found a dentist locally who would be willing to see the young lady and then help provide the necessary surgery to fix her dental needs.  She began working with the family and found that they were overjoyed with gratitude but they did not have the transportation or finances to get the daughter to the procedure, checkups, and purchase necessary medicine.  She took the young lady to the pre-procedure visits in Little Rock and was willing to even take from her personal days to get this student to the procedure.  In the end she was able to take the young lady to the final procedure.  Due to her persistence and efforts, one of our RJHS students can take pride in her accomplishments and is a true believer that they can do anything, all with a smile on her face.  Her dedication to her students; her passion and love for education only scrape the surface of what she does every day."

The January Student of the Month is 8th grader Dru Robinson and she was nominated by Amy Covey and this is what Mrs. Covey had to say about Dru. "I can’t count the number of times Dru has helped me out. Whether it is with passing out papers, setting things up or helping another student struggling with content, organization or behavior issues. Dru makes a positive impact on all those around her. I love watching her at games or in the classroom... she always gives 100%. Last month after always placing her with a student needing extra attention, I told her she could pick her partner. She told me it didn’t matter to her, she would sit with whoever needed the most help. Just precious! RJHS always picks a student who goes above and beyond in all areas inside and outside of the classroom. Dru is a perfect example of that sort of student we would want to represent our school for student of the month."

RJHS wants to say a big congratulations to Mrs. Vazquez and Dru Robinson!!!