Mr. Robert Rodriguez is our health and phys ed teacher here at Prep. He’s been teaching here since the opening of Prep in 2018 and has been teaching overall for 13 years. He got his undergraduate degree from Rutgers Newark and graduated from Montclair State with majors in PE and health and has a masters degree in educational leadership from NJCU.
He is a father of two with a 1-½ year old and a 4-½ year old. He enjoys traveling and spending time with his family. Mr. Rodriguez was kind enough to give us a few minutes of his time to answer some questions and let us know more about him.
The Boulevard Online: What was your most memorable moment as a gym teacher?
Mr. Rodriguez: When I was teaching in elementary school I asked my students in second grade to do a pistol squat ( a one-legged squat ) and one of my students was able to perform it on both legs. It surprised me.
TBO: What is the hardest part of your job?
Mr. Rodriguez: The hardest part is dealing with constant changes in the schedule either from being moved out of the gym or other things that happen throughout the year. Like testing, events, etc.
TBO: What was your dream job growing up?
Mr. Rodriguez: I was 10 years old when I realized I wanted to be a professional sports athlete. It could’ve been any sport. I enjoy all of them.
TBO: Would you rather be on top of a building in a box full of snakes or in a cage underwater surrounded by hungry sharks?
Mr. Rodriguez: If I had to choose, it would be in a cage around sharks because I’m not a big fan of heights or snakes and at least in a cage I’m not in contact with the animal.
TBO: What do you put on your pizza?
Mr. Rodriguez: I like pepperoni, sausage, onions, meatballs, peppers, mushrooms, olives, etc. I like everything on my pizza including pineapples.
TBO: What is a valuable lesson that took you a while to learn?
Mr. Rodriguez: One of the things I learned was that when doing good things for others, never expect something in return. I think sometimes we tend to expect things back from others instead of just doing things to help out.
TBO: What is your favorite place you have traveled to?
Mr. Rodriguez: Mexico, the Riviera Maya area. It was my first all-inclusive vacation and it ended up being where I got married. Another one would be Florida, since I reminisce about vacations as a kid with my parents and family. Me and my family would always go to Florida when I was younger.
TBO: If you won the lottery today what is the first thing you would do?
Mr. Rodriguez: Since my dad is going to retire I would buy him a house in Georgia near my younger sister. So that he can retire and then I would move down South myself with my family. We are very budget-oriented, my wife and I, so we would need time to map it out.
TBO: What do you think is the key to maintaining a long and healthy life?
Mr. Rodriguez: I don’t think we determine our length of life, but our quality of life and in that I would consider our eating habits, sleep patterns, stress levels and how active we are or not. Spiritual health and how we manage our day-to-day moments.
TBO: What’s your biggest regret in life?
Mr. Rodriguez: I try not to live in regret. I know there are things I would change and one would be spending a lot more time with my mom when I was a teenager. She passed away early when she was 49 and I was 27. As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate my parents, all their sacrifices and all the things they’ve done for us as a family of seven.
