Robotics, CTE, And Real Gains

What turns a struggling school into a rising one? We sat down with Richwood Middle School educator Roderick Hannibal at LACUE in New Orleans to unpack a practical blueprint: combine structured study, hands-on robotics, and clear career pathways so students see where their effort leads.

Website: spotlight4success.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company. I am Devin Pintozi, your host. We are here at Wonderful LaCue in Louisiana and new in uh wonderful New Orleans. Uh we're here in 2025. So excited to have with us our special guest, Roderick Hannibal. Roderick, thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Oh, yeah.

Why Attend LACUE

SPEAKER_01 0:28

All right, great to see you. Roderick uh joins us. Uh you go to is it Richwood Middle School?

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Yes, Richwood Middle School. It's in Monroe, Louisiana, Wachita Parish.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Wachita Parish. Fantastic. Um, Roderick, can you tell us a bit about uh your journey? What brings you here to LaCue?

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Well, um, it's different events and uh different classes uh that I'm trying to get more familiar with. Uh I'm doing some uh robotics this year in STEM, so uh this would be ideal for me to come and try to get some knowledge and uh see some of the things that they offer. So that'll be good for my students when I bring it back to the school.

Using ABC Materials In Class

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Oh, that's wonderful. And um uh so I understand before uh previously in the past, or actually was this last year, right? Did you use the American uh book company in your classroom?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

We do. Uh we have some books that the kids kind of go through and use, and uh American Book Company is one of the ones that we do use.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Oh, that's great. And did you see score improvements this year at your school?

Score Gains And School Impact

SPEAKER_00 1:26

We did, man. Um it was awesome. Uh we went up six points, went from a D school to a C school, and uh man, it was awesome, and the kids are excited about it, and we studiedly want to keep improving.

Role, CTE, And Robotics Focus

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Gosh, that is wonderful. That is great news. Happy to hear that. Oh yeah. And uh so can you tell me a bit about what your role is in the school and uh how it how it translates here at LaCue.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Okay, well, what I do is I do um a couple of different classes. I do a quest for success, which is a CTE class, where it talks about different career paths for the students. Uh it kind of uh helps me come in here to get more knowledgeable information so I can take back to the students. And also this year I'm doing a robotics in a STEM class, uh, where the kids are competing in competition, learning how to code, learning the dynamics of robotics. So it has been an adventure, but it's been good. So coming to the queue is also gonna help me uh get more information so I can take back to the students.

Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Oh, that's wonderful. Uh uh Roderick, uh again, this is Roderick Hannibal. Uh, thank you for joining us uh here from uh Richwood Middle School in Wachita Parish. Thank you for joining us, Roderick.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Okay, thank you so much.