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Teacher Spotlight - Rodney Decipeda |
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Click on any image to see a larger version of the image. |
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“I’m a fan of E CITY because…
...it gives the
students a vision for what their life could be using the
entrepreneurial mindset, instead of settling for being stuck with
what’s around them.”
All of the
students who were in Rodney Decipeda’s E CITY class at Lincoln
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Finalist with Rodney |
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West High School are at the poverty
level economically, and qualify for free lunches. Several do not
live with their fathers. Most have extended family living with them,
including other kids with whom they share just one parent.
Several are Latin American, one is native African, one is from Jordan
and a few are African American. The diverse group was connected
by a common thread- an adult in each home who is supportive of their
participation in the E CITY program. |
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Rodney has always
wanted to work with this population. He made a career change from
youth ministry to education because he felt he could touch more lives
in that way. He could have accepted offers to teach in the suburbs,
but wanted to be in the inner city where he might “…give these kids
some hope and the skills needed to survive.” |
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Rodney and student working on business
plan |
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"And that’s what E CITY is all about,
too,” he adds. Rodney feels blessed that the school principal
selected him to teach the school’s first E CITY program, in just his
second year of teaching at Lincoln West. “I could tell from the
get-go that this was a high-quality, meaningful program, and they
(John Zitzner, Scott Arthur and Nicole Lawrence) were very
professional. My first impression was that it was an incredible
opportunity for students to get life skills they wouldn’t get in the
classroom or at home.” |
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Rodney attended a
Certified Entrepreneurship Training workshop in August and then taught
the 70-hour curriculum to eight students in an after-school format,
five days each week from September through December. |
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“We tell the kids
on the first day ‘You are here because I believe in you, because John
Zitzner believes in you and because E CITY believes in you.’ And we
established a good classroom community.” |
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Rodney thinks the curriculum is well-received
because these students want to be challenged and they are excited by
the idea of learning to run their own businesses. They see the chance
to use their creativity and the freedom that comes with that. They
can see the pay-off of their hard work. |
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He feels that many
kids get comfortable in poverty and they just settle for it. “But
they can be great,” he says. “They just need a push and
encouragement.” He knows E CITY can teach kids to break the pattern
of not finishing what they start, and of quitting when they are
challenged. |
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Is it “uncool” to be in the E CITY
class at Lincoln West? Quite the opposite, according to Rodney.
“They know they are learning things that others are not, and they are
proud,” he explains. And, word of the class spread quickly
through the school. These days you’ll hear other students saying
“…only E CITY kids get to learn that…” with a hint of envy. |
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Rodney at LMM graduation |
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Rodney is a teacher who makes you
want to be a teacher too, when you witness his clear and passionate
commitment to students. Yet, he attributes the success of his E
CITY class to the staff that went beyond his
expectations in their gestures of support. He describes the monthly
teacher meetings with John Zitzner and the frequent visits from John,
Scott and Nicole in this way: “It’s like you’re a tire with a leak in
it, and then they pump you up. They remind you you’re not alone. The
students felt that way, too.” |
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