Have you noticed any unfamiliar faces while walking down the hall or peeking through classroom windows to see who’s teaching? Dr. Viscusi and Mr. Rodriguez both joined the Carrollton family in the 2024-2025 school year. Although Mr. Rodriguez was a new teacher last year, he did substitute for a few classes and worked in the Writing Center before assuming the position of Honors English I teacher. This year, he also continues to work in the Writing Center. Dr Viscusi is a part of the Upper School Science Department, where she teaches various courses for grades 9-12.
Both teachers sat down to talk to us about their motivations for becoming teachers, the individuals who inspired them, and their experiences and favorite memories working at Carrollton so far.
The following interviews have been condensed for clarity
Dr Viscusi
What inspired you to become a teacher?
Prior to teaching, I was actually practicing medicine. I knew I was going to transition and do something different. I wasn’t really quite sure. An opportunity just happened to arise where there was a teaching position for science. I decided I was going to try it. I did, and I loved it. And then I just kept going.
What is something you want your students to know about you?
Although sometimes I might come off a little harsh, I always have good intentions. It just might be the culture or my background that makes me come off that way. But I just want my students to push themselves and to fully understand what I’m teaching.
Who was a teacher or mentor who influenced you the most?
Surprisingly, my mentors have always been male, which sounds kind of odd since I am a female, and now I’m in an all-female school. This is actually the first time I’ve ever been in a female environment. In high school, my most memorable teacher was somebody named Mr. Warner. He’s the one I really remember. He was my math and science teacher. I learned a lot.
What has surprised you most about teaching here?
Knowing that I was coming into a female-dominated area for the first time, I had expectations for the environment to be “catty.” I was pleasantly surprised to find out the student community is so kind.
What’s been your biggest challenge starting at Carrollton, and how are you handling it?
I wasn’t familiar with the curriculum. This coincided with my being completely new to Miami. I had just moved here about a month before. It was just a lot of change going on in my life at that point. I was trying to get a handle on all of those things simultaneously, and so that was a big challenge.
What moment has made you smile the most since starting?
There are still a lot of great moments even now, but they happened pretty early on. My sophomores last year were such a great group. They had so many different great personalities. We had a lot of fun in class. They were just a great group of girls, and I had fun along with them.
How do you hope to make an impact on your students?
I hope I make them more knowledgeable and prepared for college. It’ll be quite a different atmosphere and possibly a coed environment. They might not necessarily stay here in Miami, so I hope I’m preparing them for being exposed to different environments–coed environments and environments with different cultures–because things are very different outside of the Miami area.
What has been your favorite Carrollton activity/tradition so far?
We have a lot of great things. One that I really liked was Follies. Mini Session was interesting because I’ve never been to a school where we had something like that, where it was a break from academic classes and students got to do something they were interested in. I happened to sign up for one of the cooking ones, and it was very fun. We cooked different meals, some of which we got to try, but a lot of it was mass prepared because we donated food to a food pantry.
Mr. Rodriguez
What inspired you to become a teacher?
I kind of fell into it. It wasn’t my goal to be a teacher as a kid. I was always the one helping my family with homework, but I never thought of it as a career. After college, I realized accounting wasn’t for me and decided to take a part-time job as a substitute teacher while figuring out my next steps. I fell in love with being in front of a classroom. Also, I was always taking English classes in college, so it made sense.
What is something you want your students to know about you?
Two things: The first one is for kids who feel like English might not be their strong suit. I grew up with ADHD and dyslexia—all these things people say don’t make you good at reading and writing. So if I can do it, you guys can do it. The second thing is if you can find a way to fall in love with reading, you’ll always have something to fall back on for learning, for entertainment, and for being in community. Sharing stories with people is really important.
Who is a teacher or mentor who has influenced you the most?
[Upper School English teacher] Mr. Alkon. I don’t think I’d be able to do this as well as I do if it weren’t for Mr. Alkon. At the beginning of last year, I felt a little bit like a chicken with my head cut off. It was really helpful to have someone who knew what he was doing and who was passionate about it.
What has surprised you most about teaching here?
I think something I’m consistently surprised by even still is how high a standard you guys hold yourselves to. On the one hand, it’s really admirable. Sometimes I also think it’s to your own detriment because you put a lot of stress on yourselves. But you guys are ready to attack the world. It’s amazing to see.
What’s been your biggest challenge starting at Carrollton and how are you handling it?
I think I have two: One is how to help you guys manage stress in the moment. I’m not sure if I do that well. I feel like if I knew how to do that better, my students would be able to perform better. But part of it is also that you have to find your own way to manage stress.
Number two is the behind-the-scenes stuff. I care a lot about doing a good job grading and teaching, and sometimes I get in my own head about it. Am I grading this fairly? Is this question good or not? There’s a lot more to it than I was expecting. Luckily, Mr. Alkon helps me a lot with that.
What moment has made you smile the most since starting?
There’s one single moment that always makes me really happy. At the beginning of the year, one student told me, “I’m not an English person. I don’t read for fun. I don’t like it.” And by the end of the year, she said, “Mr. Rodriguez, I actually liked every book we read. Do you have any recommendations for the summer?” That moment made me so happy.
And then there are all the little moments of accomplishment–when a student gets it, when something clicks. Those make me feel like I’m making an impact.
How do you hope to make an impact on your students and community?
For my students, specifically, if I can help them understand that reading and writing are important to how they view themselves, that would be amazing.
