At Southeast High, Becky Rouse builds relationships with teens

BRADENTON -- Becky Rouse's classroom at Southeast High School is adorned with colorful pop culture memes -- a funny image with a message that usually has gone viral on the Internet.

These memes remind students to stay in dress code, do their homework and put their name on their papers.

Pulling from Beyonce's Single Ladies lyrics, a picture of Beyonce doing the iconic dance reminds students, "If ya wanted a grade, ya shoulda put ya name on it." The "Y U No" meme -- a large, ugly face which can be used to ask people why they don't do simple tasks, says "Students, Y U No stay in dress code?!?!"

There's some inspirational messages in there, too. By the door, colorful cutouts remind the students "When you enter this classroom, you are important, you are loved, you can do hard things, you are a friend, you are respected, you can change the world."

Given a quick glance, with her hair piled on top of her head in a loose messy bun, wearing a zip-up sweatshirt and jeans, Rouse might be able to pass as a high school student herself. It's all part of how she relates to the students she works with. She wants her students to trust her and then take ownership of their own education.

"I want them to see that I'm real," she said. "I am that weird teacher. I am weird and enthusiastic."

Rouse's ability to connect with her students is part of what makes her a finalist for the Manatee County School District's Excellence in Education award. Rouse, 35, teaches students across grade levels, working with ninth- and 10th-grade students in intensive language arts -- meaning they're too far behind their peers in regular language arts classes -- and with juniors and seniors in the Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, program.

This year, she's also taken on the role of chairing the AVID program at the school, she's on the FOCUS literacy leadership team and she runs the Miss Southeast pageant talent show.

"Anything they ask me to do, I do," she said.

'Under the radar'

Rouse works with kids who "fly just under the radar," she says. The ILA students are those who haven't

been able to pass state exams, some of them since the third grade.

"It's not because they are stupid or that they can't read," Rouse said.

With those students, one of Rouse's favorite books to teach is The Pact, a story of three men in New Jersey who make a pact to get out of the streets and make something of their lives. They all go on to become doctors of some sort.

"Everything in there, my kids can relate to," she said. "It comes back to school and education."

Rouse said almost all of her students make some type of learning gain from the beginning to the end of the academic year. They may not end up on grade level when they leave, but if they move up half a level, it's a step in the right direction for Rouse.

With the older students, it's more about life skills and after high-school plans. AVID is a global nonprofit organization that aims to help students prepare the skills to go on after high school and do whatever they want to achieve. In addition to teaching AVID, Rouse is the school's coordinator, working with the other teachers.

"It's all the skills that get them to further themselves," she said.

Not going into college immediately after high school herself, Rouse said she doesn't try to put limitations on her students or speak negatively of their dreams and aspirations. If they want to work at a gym, Rouse said she'll let them be her trainer. If they work at McDonald's, Rouse tells them she'll go get her ice cream from them.

"Then they grow," she said.

Students in AVID may be under the radar. College may be a good fit for them, but they may not know how to get there, Rouse said.

"I want to be that person for them," Rouse said.

'Making a difference'

Rouse also believes teachers can constantly improve themselves. She helps lead sessions for teachers at the school and she's also continued her own training. She's pursuing a master's degree now.

In January, Rouse attended the school district's in-service training session with the reigning Florida Teacher of the Year, Diane McKee. McKee spoke about the "growth mindset" -- the idea that students cannot be limited in their thinking and their achievement. McKee uses a red bar in her Hillsborough County classroom and makes students tap the bar on the way in, to remind them to set the bar high and to reach for it each and every day.

The session's participants broke into groups for activities related to using the growth mindset in the classroom. Afterward, McKee and Rouse talked one-on-one. McKee just happened to have an additional red bar with her. She gave it to Rouse.

That red bar now hangs in the back of Rouse's classroom, just one more thing in the room that's intended to make students feel welcome.

"It makes me feel like I am making a difference," she said.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 11:14 PM with the headline "At Southeast High, Becky Rouse builds relationships with teens ."