Both a beloved teacher and sponsor, Mrs. Hodges has guided the RM Model UN club for four years and has taught Spanish for even longer. As a teacher, she handles Spanish 1 and Spanish 3, helping her students gain a better grasp on the language. As a sponsor, she advises club members, handles paperwork and logistics, and collects funding for the club.
Mrs. Hodges found her love for teaching since she was young through teaching her siblings. “I have always been known as the little teacher in my family. It was just a natural thing to become a teacher,” she comments. Mrs. Hodges loves her profession, finding satisfaction in moments when students finally understand a difficult topic.
Her classes are fun, engaging, and organized. Freshman Tuyler Pealmeter describes her teaching style as “strict, but relaxed.” Although Mrs. Hodges makes sure students know the rules and boundaries of her class, she also works to create an interesting and clear learning environment. “She’s a great teacher. She explains very well and is very specific,” sophomore Carwithian Hemsley expressed.
While at first nervous when she began her teaching profession, Mrs. Hodges has grown to love it, and she has developed the experience to run an efficient and disciplined classroom. “I’ve learned to give students a lot more freedom to complete tasks with their peers,” she reflected. “It allows them to have more confidence when they have to produce something on their own.”
Mrs. Hodges brings many important teaching qualities to her role as the Model UN sponsor. Before she was an official sponsor, she accompanied the students to the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference in Pennsylvania. When the acting teacher sponsor left to teach abroad, she decided to fill in the empty spot.
Handling a wide variety of responsibilities from making future plans to organizing conferences, she is “affable, dedicated, passionate, caring, and funny,” describes senior Faaiq Zarger. “She’s exactly what you want out of a sponsor,” he added. For Mrs. Hodges, the most fulfilling aspect of Model UN is not completing loads of paperwork, but seeing students improve from freshman to senior year. “I enjoy seeing how students grow and how much more eloquent their speeches are,” she said.
As the main engine behind the operations of Model UN, Mrs. Hodges is also very knowledgeable about the club’s nuances. She commonly provides help and support for students with their preparations. “She knows a lot about how Model UN works and the different committees, so if we ever need help we always ask her,” said sophomore Derek Yao. Mrs. Hodges is present at all Model UN meetings and works hard with student leaders to train new members and ensure that the club runs smoothly.
For Model UN, she tells students to “read. Read everything you can get your hand on. Stuff from both the left and right,” stressing that reading a wide variety of materials will expand a student’s understanding to better argue about various issues.
Most importantly, she advises students to build a good relationship with their teacher to help the students to learn better and teachers to adjust to their students’ individual needs.
“Make a point to find out their personality and how they can best help you whether that’s through print or in person,” she emphasized.
