TEMECULA -- Special education teacher Cheryl Rodenhi has brought
the dedication that has allowed her to train for and compete in
triathlons to the classroom.
Rodenhi, who teaches disabled students at Erle Stanley Gardner
Middle School, was named regional Teacher of the Year at the annual
California League of Middle Schools Awards dinner last month in
A teacher of severely disabled students, Rodenhi was nominated
by Terrence Davis, the district's special education director.
"You walk into her classroom and there are standards,
expectations and schedules. It's very clear that every bit of the
day is used for instruction. She does that with ease," Davis
Her nomination letter further states, "A final litmus test for
Mrs. Rodenhi is the fact that every year parents of students slated
for the high school try to retain their student because they see
remarkable progress in their child, progress that teachers before
said was not possible. All of this with a smile and positive
Rodenhi, 37 of Murrieta, is in her 13th year of teaching. She
spent her first eight years at a middle school in San Diego before
joining the Temecula district in 2004. She holds an adapted
teaching credential, a master's degree in education and a national
board teaching credential in special education. Before becoming a
classroom teacher, Rodenhi held a long-term substitute job as an
adaptive physical education teacher for middle and elementary
school-age disabled students in San Diego.
This is her fifth year teaching a special day class at
She has seven students, most of whom who are mentally
handicapped; one student is in a wheelchair. She gets help from
adult aides, whom she says she can't do without, and students who
volunteer in her Peer Buddy Program.
The student volunteers give up their elective class to work in
Rodenhi's class for a period. They run groups, facilitate
friendships, do errands and create hands-on activities with the
students. The goal is to create positive relationships between
disabled and non-disabled children through inclusive education.
The students also have served as partners for the disabled
students in physical education class. There are 34 students working
throughout the day as peer buddies, Rodenhi said.
"The kids are amazing. They step up to the challenge. They
become so much more mature than their parents can imagine," she
said. "There is no room for them to slack off in the classroom.
They are not in there for themselves, they are there for the
students with special needs."
The student volunteers develop self-esteem by working with the
special education students, she added.
Davis said the Peer Buddy program is highly successful and the
district receives many letters at the end of the school year
praising Rodenhi and the program, which most middle schools don't
Along with teaching, Davis noted, Rodenhi has to manage the
adult instructional assistants in her class.
"It's nice how they all get along. It's a whole separate job,"
And, of course, the students themselves pose a challenge, he
"These are students who require almost constant monitoring and
medical needs. The growth is small but it is there. She sees them
as regular students," he said.
In her spare time, Rodenhi trains and has participated in six
triathlons. A triathlon consists of up to of a 2.4-mile swim, a
112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. She completed her last one in
November in Tempe, Ariz.
Connected to that race, Rodenhi and two athlete friends held a
charity auction and raised more than $13,000 to give to the San
Diego-based Challenged Athletes Foundation.