A major part of the Houston Dynamo and Dash community engagement initiative involves getting players out to visit local schools and interacting with students, but with the coronavirus outbreak causing schools to close, those were assumed to be put on hold for the foreseeable future. However, the Club’s community relations department got creative and on Friday, April 3, Dynamo midfielder Memo Rodriguez participated in the first-ever virtual school visit in Club history.
Joined on Zoom by faculty of the K12 Texas online education program and its third grade students from Houston, Dallas, and even the San Antonio area, Rodriguez fielded questions on a variety of topics that included his study habits in school, his journey to professional soccer, his favorite and least favorite school subjects, how much time he spends training, and even what his pregame routine entails. Out of all the topics covered though, his favorite discussion was giving the students his three traits needed to be successful in life and the importance of listening to one’s parents.
“I really enjoyed giving my three words to be successful, which were hard work, dedication and discipline,” Rodriguez said. “And my mom was a big mentor in my success, so I also enjoyed passing along my message that while parents might not know everything about sports sometimes, they know a lot more about life than we do as kids, especially in third grade. Parents know so much more about what decisions are right and wrong, so we just have to take in their advice. As kids, most of us might not want to listen to our parents, and I admit that I didn’t at times, but at the end of the day, they know what is best for us and just want what is best for us.”
It was this portion of the virtual visit that K12 Texas elementary principal Blanda Watt appreciated above all else and hoped it resonated within her students as well, helping them understand the importance of both determination and listening to their parents.
“I loved how [Rodriguez] kept going back to the discipline part and explaining that this didn’t come easy but is something he worked towards for a very long time, and how he was appreciative of his mom and brothers’ support,” Watt said. “With our elementary kids, a lot of the time we hear, ‘I just can’t get my kid to do anything,’ so, when you hear someone that is successful talking about respecting their mom and listening to their parents, it just reinforces what is an integral part of what we do here. For him to recognize what his family has done for him and acknowledge that is wasn’t easy to get to where he is today, and still requires discipline even now, was great for our kids.”
For K12 Texas Head-of-School Charles Smith, virtual visits like this one serve an even greater purpose than helping the students understand what is necessary to be successful though, as he hopes to give them a sense of belonging outside of their virtual classroom, which was a sentiment echoed by Mrs. Watt as well.
“Our kids are almost invisible to most everybody in the public, but they are everywhere across the state,” Smith said. “I think a lot of times they feel like they go from those brick and mortar schools where they have access to visits like these a few times a year, if not more, to coming to us and there’s not that same exposure. So, to have the Dynamo reach out to us, or any other organization that do this kind of thing with our students, it just helps make the students feel less invisible. It makes them feel like they have more of a connection to the outside world, and that is ultimately what we’re trying to do, especially right now, even more so than usual.
“Some of the things we miss by being a virtual school is having those special assemblies where guests come in and engage with the students, but visits like these allow our students to experience that I think, so they get a different viewpoint and different information,” Watt explained. “Plus, it’s just fun. It is fun for them to hear from someone outside of the school program who is obviously a role model and has had success in sports, which is not something that everybody gets to experience, but most little kids want to do, so I think that aspect was good too.”
As for Rodriguez, the El Campo native acknowledged the virtual visit was a slightly different experience than a typical school visit, but applauded his club’s efforts to keep engagement with the community a priority and was just happy to be able to connect with students again.
“Obviously, I would rather be there in person, and I couldn’t see everyone’s faces because there were so many people in the call, which was definitely a little different, but it was fun to interact with the students and answer some of their questions,” Rodriguez said. “I was happy to do it and really enjoyed it, and it was fun to give insight into my career and how everything developed. I just wanted to be as positive as I could to help them and motivate them in these difficult times. At the end of the day, everybody in life wants to be happy, and I hope to pass along smiles wherever I can.”
