UNI-trained principal earns Iowa Principal of the Year recognition
UNI-trained principal earns Iowa Principal of the Year recognition
Given the esteemed reputation of UNI teacher education, it’s no surprise this year’s Iowa Principal of the Year is a UNI graduate. Nicole Roder, a Spanish teaching alum, has been the principal at Rock Valley High School in northwest Iowa since 2009.
“It's really representative of everybody I work with,” Roder said of the award. “I'm only as good as the people I surround myself with. I always brag about my secretaries, my janitors, the cooks, the teachers — they are just awesome people. And because of the way they work so hard, they make me look good, which is even better.”
Along her path to becoming an award-winning principal, Roder has encountered some major life challenges. But through all of it, she’s never doubted her passion for education. Her desire to be an educator began at a young age, as she grew up playing school with her brothers. Her mom and older sister were teachers who attended the University of Northern Iowa, instilling the desire in Roder to follow in their footsteps. She always knew teaching was hard work, but that didn’t scare her away from the profession.
“The fact that I idolized them a little bit played into my decision to become a teacher,” she said. “They were great teachers who took their jobs very seriously. They love education.”
Roder’s own teachers, especially those she had in middle school, also served as inspirations for her future career. She thought she would become an English teacher, but she ended up falling in love with Spanish once she got to UNI, causing her to change course.
Some of Roder’s other impactful UNI experiences include participating in Panther Marching Band and UNI Singers, living in the dorms and becoming a resident assistant. Since she was four hours from her hometown of Hartley in northwest Iowa, she grew in her independence as a college student.
“I had a lot of leadership activities along the way in my life that prepared me for becoming a principal,” she said. “In high school, I was involved in everything. I was class president. When I went to UNI, I was involved in a lot of things and was an RA. Those are just stepping stones that help you build resiliency, but also teach you a lot of lessons about leadership.”
As a student, Roder accumulated numerous field experiences throughout the Cedar Valley. She learned to “teach with the end in mind,” considering how her teaching practices would provide her students with soft skills for the real world, rather than merely teaching them how to pass a test.
For student teaching, she went to Omaha.
“The high school was twice as big as my hometown,” she said. “That place challenged me, opened my eyes a little bit and also taught me a lot of great things.”
Roder’s first teaching job was in Stuart, Iowa in the West Central Valley Community School District. She always knew educational leadership was the goal. Initially, her plan was to wait until her kids were much older, but her husband’s death shifted her plans. She decided she didn’t want to wait any longer to earn her master’s degree, and ended up becoming principal of Rock Valley High School at just 30 years old.
“It is hard work,” Roder admitted. “I am blatantly honest with people. But the payoff is the way we get to see kids grow. There's just so many rewards that warm your heart and remind you that you chose this career for the right reason.”
It is hard work. I am blatantly honest with people. But the payoff is the way we get to see kids grow. There's just so many rewards that warm your heart and remind you that you chose this career for the right reason.
Roder was nominated for Principal of the Year by other school administrators who highlighted her involvement presenting at conferences and teaching college courses.
Although many of her students may not understand the significance of the award, Roder says she has gotten lots of congratulatory comments from them, further validating her chosen profession.
“I want my students to know me as a real person who they can trust,” she said. “When they see me in the community, I'm the same person they see in these walls, and no matter what, I would do anything for them and always have their backs.”
