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<\/p>\nTeaching Excellence award recipients Mario Aguilar and Dr. Robert Blodgett share a common conviction that all students can learn, no matter how complicated the subject.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In their combined seven decades in the classroom, Dr. Robert Blodgett, professor of geology, and Mario Aguilar, professor of paralegal, management, and real estate, have taught thousands of students. Still, developing a relationship with each one is paramount.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my job to develop relationships with each student in the classroom as best I can \u2500 to meet them where they are,\u201d Blodgett says.<\/p>\n
Aguilar agrees. \u201cIt\u2019s all about the students,\u201d he says. \u201cStudents come first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interaction with their students is just one of the reasons Aguilar and Blodgett are receiving ACC\u2019s 2017 Teaching Excellence award. The annual recognition is given to one full-time and one adjunct professor who are nominated by students, faculty, and staff and selected by a committee for their knowledge, creativity, and effectiveness in the classroom. Read more about this year\u2019s honorees:<\/p>\n
Mario Aguilar: Fostering mutual trust<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nMario Aguilar says he was “born to teach.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
At Area of Study Information Sessions for incoming business majors, Mario Aguilar likes to point out the acronym for ACC\u2019s business pathway programs is MARIO (management\/marketing, accounting, real estate, international business, office management). It\u2019s indicative of the personal touch he brings to the classroom and his interactions with students.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents are just so happy that they have an instructor who cares for them. You have to show them through actions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
For him, that means fostering a mutual trust, remaining accessible \u2013 students can call his cellphone 24\/7 \u2013 and reminding them that success is not about having a special intellect but about working hard.<\/p>\n
He tells students his own success story of coming to Laredo from Mexico with limited English reading and writing skills, later earning a degree from Cornell University (one of two Ivy League schools to offer him a full scholarship), and returning to Texas to earn a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell them, \u2018If I can do it, you can do it too.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n
Between 1999, when he started at ACC, and January this year, Aguilar was an adjunct faculty member while continuing to practice law. Now a full-time faculty member, he looks for simple, relatable ways to explain complex legal and business topics. Outside the classroom, he devotes his time to committees and causes that are meaningful to him, such as the Hispanic Student Association, the Adjunct Faculty Association, and the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education.<\/p>\n
Aguilar understands that students in his classes aren\u2019t just learning skills for a career, they\u2019re gaining essential knowledge about buying a home or preparing a will. He is equally proud of those who apply what they\u2019ve learned to start their own businesses, continue their education at a university, or simply buy a home.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents say, \u2018You made it easy.’\u201d \u201cI say, \u2018It\u2019s an honor to be heard and have you listening to what I have to say.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Robert Blodgett: Working with students as a team<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nDr. Robert Blodgett says his interactions with students are as important as the content he is teaching.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Dr. Robert Blodgett knew from an early age he wanted to be a geologist. He also knew that he enjoyed sharing his love of science with others.<\/p>\n
Over 40 years he has done both, accumulating a wealth of experience in education, private industry, and government that he shares with students considering different career paths. He has published dozens of books, papers, and abstracts on geoscience research and led workshops on neurodiversity and strategies for teaching students with learning disabilities and autism.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s his life experiences, however, that help Blodgett relate to students at ACC, particularly those who feel their own life experience differs from their peers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can sort of walk in their shoes,\u201d he says. In addition to being among the first in his family to attend college, he served in the military and understands how veterans feel returning to the classroom. Being an openly gay professional in a job field and era that once was less accepting helps him relate to LGBTQ students.<\/p>\n
He tells students that their planned path likely will have twists, turns, and bumps along the way, that mistakes they make are reparable, and that it\u2019s important that they don\u2019t go it alone.<\/p>\n
While Blodgett, who also is interim chair of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, has taught at both private colleges and large universities, he says coming to teach at ACC in 1995 was \u201cone of the best things that could have happened to me.\u201d Being recognized for his teaching 22 years later is just as meaningful and reflects his belief that instructors often underestimate the impact they have on students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt won\u2019t show on an evaluation. It won\u2019t show in class.\u201d For him it was demonstrated when a student of his at Rio Grande Campus enrolled in a second course he taught at Northridge Campus, even though it required an hourlong bus ride. When another student recalled Blodgett\u2019s military service and wished him a happy Veteran\u2019s Day, he knew it represented a connection.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means I\u2019m where I should be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In their combined seven decades in the classroom, Dr. Robert Blodgett, professor of geology, and Mario Aguilar, professor of paralegal, management, and real estate, have taught thousands of students. Still, developing a relationship with each … Continue reading