San Antonio ISD Dual Langauge, ESL, and Migrant Department recognized CAST Med Principal, Dr. Eddie Muzquiz Rodriguez, as the Linguistically Responsive Principal of the Year, at this year’s Siempre Bilingüe Conference. The award recognizes the high school principal who best exemplifies continued advocacy for and amplification of Emergent Bilingual students’ experiences and gifts to include:
- Creating a welcoming space for families
- Presenting to parents in Spanish
- Having bilingual resources available
- Supporting and engaging with the Dual Language department to support and coach on-campus educators.
As principal of the only medically-focused, dual-language high school in south San Antonio, Dr. Rodriguez champions the need to graduate future culturally sensitive doctors and health professionals. Rogelio Nava, SAISD Dual Language Coordinator, shared that “Dr. Rodriguez understands the importance of socio-cultural competence, one of the pillars of Dual Language, by maintaining a humanistic and collaborative approach to working with outside organizations and bringing memorable experiences to CAST Med students.”
Dr. Rodriguez ensures that the dual language program is successful at CAST Med by hiring qualified bilingual teachers in areas like math and science to create a rich experience and by recruiting Emergent Bilingual students from across the Bexar County region.
The Siempre Bilingüe Conference is a conference for teachers and by teachers that seeks to highlight and elevate the instructional practices and linguistic bilingual focus central to successful programming. Conference sessions include Dual Language, ESL, and Content-Based Language Instruction. Parents also participated and were connected with local city contacts and resources. Keynote speakers are world-renowned Dual Language experts and bring to SAISD the latest in research-based practice & pedagogy.
