Having only been here for three years, Assistant Principal Omar Rodriguez had made his an impact on the ACHS community. For those who know Rodriguez, they know he is a very caring man who attended the University of Wisconsin, and is in love with the city of Madison. Due to his great love for Madison, he could not resist the opportunity of working at a high school nearby.

“I spent five wonderful years in Madison at UW—Madison. I always pictured raising my family there, and an opportunity presented itself, so I threw my hat in the ring,” Rodriguez said. “For me, it would be an accomplishment to form a family legacy at UW.”

While Rodriguez pursues his dream of settling down near his old school, he will be greatly missed by the students at ACHS. Senior Kayla Vazquez, who is currently a member of the Latino Leadership Group (La Selección) run by Rodriguez, has been greatly impacted by Rodriguez.

“Mr. Rodriguez has had a significant impact on my life,” Vazquez said. “He helped turn rushed, crazy mornings into a good day, just by saying ‘good morning, how are you?’”

Not only did Rodriguez brighten Vazquez’s day, he encouraged her and her La Selección classmates to rise above and prove academic excellence.

“In times that I wanted to give up on grades and slack with school, he forced me to continue to push through and work hard for what I wanted in my future,” Vazquez said. “He taught me that things do not come easy, but we can succeed in what we want if we try hard enough. Mr. Rodriguez helped me find myself in high school, I am sad to leave him and sad for the fact that he will not be able to do the same for anymore students here at ACHS. I hope that whoever gets to know him next realizes how lucky they are to have someone as great as him.”

Possibly Rodriguez’s greatest impact on the school is his development of the Latino Leadership Group.

“I love helping all students find their voice and ultimately find their direction,” Rodriguez said. “Last year we started up the Latino Leadership Group and I’ve had the privilege of working with some really outstanding kids.”

But, not only has Rodriguez helped improve ACHS, but ACHS has helped Rodriguez as well.

“Without the three years here at Antioch, I don’t think I would’ve been able to achieve another life goal like relocating back up at UW,” Rodriguez said.

With his last few days here at ACHS, be sure to wish Rodriguez good luck in his future in pursuing his dreams. Rodriguez has been a caring man for the students here since day one and hopefully whoever steps up to the plate to take his spot here can do what he does, because just as Rodriguez said, “What I do, I do from the heart.”