Amazon recognizes Bronx educator
Company names Bronx Academy of Letters educator as teacher of the year
BY ALEX MITCHELL
One high school math,
computer science and world
language teacher has gone
above and beyond for his students
at Bronx Academy of
Letters — now he’s being recognized
for it.
Mohammad Ahmad, an educator
in his fourth year was
named a 2020 Amazon Future
Engineer Teacher of the Year
Award recipient, winning a
prize package valued at more
than $50,000 for his Mott Haven
school as well.
That academy will now be
gifted $25,000, with an additional
$25,000 in school supplies,
including Amazon Fire
HD 8 Tablets, classroom essentials
from AmazonBasics
and additional items from
Amazon Essentials.
Ahmad also received one
full year of Amazon Music
Unlimited and a 12-month Audible.
com Gold Gift Membership
as part of his prize.
The surprise announcement
came while he was on
a staff video call and his reaction
to the wonderful news
was heartwarming.
“I’m not often without
words, and I was speechless
at fi nding out I’d been selected
as one of the Amazon
Future Engineer Teachers of
the Year,” Ahmad said, adding
that “this award will go
a long way in expanding our
students’ access to technology,
computer science education,
and potential post-secondary
career pathways.”
Bronx Academy of Letters
Principal, Erin Garry also
took to thanking Ahmad for
simply being himself, saying
“thank you for always advocating
for our kids and for
always getting to know the
whole kid and not just a small
piece of them. Thank you from
the bottom of my heart for everything
you’ve done for our
students, our communities,
your colleagues and for me.”
Garry’s team at the Bronx
Academy of Letters work to
provide a safe space for students
to focus on their education,
have experiences to
expand their interests and
opportunities to self-advocate
From homeless to a masters
Mott Haven resident shares journey that led her to job at BronxWorks
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,82 JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2020 BTR
through activism, and to
broaden the scope of potential
career options available to
them after high school.
During his teaching career,
Ahmad has been teaching
algebra 2, pre-calculus,
psychology, Arabic, intro
to computer science and AP
computer science principles.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
projects that this year,
there are 1.4 million computer
science-related jobs
available and only 400,000
computer science graduates
with the skills to apply for
those jobs.
“He is helping prepare
Bronx youth for the jobs of the
future by making sure they
have access to a high-quality
computer science education,”
Bronx Borough President Ruben
Diaz, Jr. said on behalf of
the award winning teacher.
Councilwoman Vanessa
Gibson also commended Ahmad’s
outstanding achievement
in the classroom as
well.
“This is an incredible opportunity
for Mohammad and
Mohammad Ahmad Photo courtesy of Bronx Academy of Letters
for his students. Through his
leadership, he is providing
our youth with the necessary
skills that will prepare them
to become future leaders,” she
said.
BY JASON COHEN
She grew up in the south
Bronx, where she witnessed
death and people engaging in
prostitution and spent fi ve years
homeless as a teen. Today, Michelle
Rodriguez has a master’s
degree and works for Bronx-
Works.
Rodriguez, 39, of Mott Haven,
did not live a privileged life, but
she overcame a lot and has never
given up.
“When I was a kid I never
thought I would reach the age of
21,” Rodriguez said.
Her parents divorced when
she was 3 and her father was a
distant memory most of her life.
She did not come from a closeknit
family and like many in the
Bronx in the late 80s and early
90s, crack and cocaine were a
huge part of life.
She never did drugs but many
people around her did, including
her mom, Sandra. Sandra chose
drugs over her daughter and
kicked her out of their home at
13.
“At that time I couldn’t understand
why my mother would
do that to her only daughter,” she
said. “Maybe she just didn’t like
me.”
She was left crying in the
streets with her stuff when her
neighbor, who heard the whole
exchange, ran and took her in.
Rodriguez stayed with her for
two years and while there, was
a live-in babysitter making $40
a week.
But not wanting to impose
on the woman and her child, she
was often outside seeing things
no other kid should witness.
She continued to move. She
roomed with a friend for a while,
reconnected with her dad and
stayed with him in Philadelphia
for a year and then went to
Yonkers with her older brother.
She recalled that all of this
was emotionally draining.
“I wrote a lot,” she recalled.
“I had journals. I truly was angry
and upset. I was a child, I
couldn’t process what was happening.
At 19, she had her fi rst child,
a daughter, Shanya. Needing to
provide, she signed up for Job
Corps and was set to move to
Maine. But during that time she
started a relationship and had
her second daughter, Nyna Rattray,
a year later.
After having two children
she realized she wanted to make
amends with her mom. She
reached out and her recollection
of what occurred was very different
than her mother’s.
Her mom never apologized
but Rodriguez forgave her.
“It was very diffi cult at fi rst
to talk to her,” she explained. “I
realized the way I was treated
was still giving me nightmares.
Once you become a parent you
view things differently. I do not
hold this against my mom. At the
time, parents do what they can.”
She lived in Philadelphia
from 2002 to 2008. Rodriguez
loved her time in the City of
Brotherly Love. While there, she
obtained her GED diploma, her
certifi ed nursing assistant degree,
learned how to do hair and
studied computer business.
She returned to New York in
2009 and struggled to fi nd a career
or good job. At one point,
she lived in a shelter with her
family but eventually things got
on the right track.
In 2016, she enrolled at Metropolitan
College of New York,
where she became the fi rst person
in her family to go to college
and made the dean’s list fi ve
times.
She graduated in 2019 with a
Bachelor’s of Professional Studies
in Human Services and completed
her master’s in Public Administration
in May.
“I’m still in shock,” Rodriguez
said. “From the day that
I gave birth to my fi rst child I
wanted to go to college. My goal
was to be a role model to my children.”
Things really came full circle
when she landed a job with
nonprofi t BronxWorks as a care
manager for the Care Coordination
Program. She was now in a
position to help people like herself.
Rodriguez, has only been
there a year but has aspirations
of one day being an assistant director.
“I always knew one day I’m
going to work for them,” Rodriguez
exclaimed. “I’m humbled
by it. I’m also driven by it. To tell
the truth, I’m always in shock.
I’m always in awe.”
Michelle Rodriguez with her daughters
Shanya (left) and Nyna (right)
Courtesy of Michelle Rodriguez