Listening away to music during afternoons was band director David Rodriguez’s and his twin brother’s ideal way to spend the day. They always looked forward to new albums that held all their favorite music tracks from the movies they had watched and loved, like Star Wars, E.T., or “Anything by John Williams,” Rodriguez said. 

“Even back then, when we were like three or six years old, my dad was buying us the albums of the movies,” Rodriguez said. “On the weekends, or if it was a rainy day, we would say, ‘Mom, put on the albums, and we would sit there all day and color on the floor listening to music,” – Rodriguez said.

 These core memories built his love for music and the dream of one day being a band director. 

Kennedy High School has a variety of extracurricular activities that make up the school’s spirit, including our marching band. The Mighty Rocket Band has been involved in many school events, and they practice for hours to give their best performances to their audience. 

Undeniably tough, to ensure that they succeed, many other people take part in the difficult process: band boosters, helpers, parents, teachers, administrators, and most importantly, JFK band director David Rodriguez. 

“He tries to motivate the class as much as possible; he always tries to teach the class new things, and I would always get good grades in his class because he always supported us,” Ashley Hernandez said. 

Music being involved so early in his life had a huge impact on him and his future, so instead of going to law school, he went to college and began his career in music. 

“I lived one year in Ohio to go to graduate school, and then I came back home.” 

Ultimately, he has been teaching music for 22 years to students from kindergarten through high school students. He knew he wanted to pursue the career of being a band director since he was in high school, but music had been in his mind for as long as he could remember. 

Being a band director though, requires an immense amount of patience, and it is widely known that being a teacher is no easy task. Mr. Rodriguez shared his secret by saying: 

“Teaching elementary taught me a lot about just patience and understanding because kids learn and grow differently,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez, known for spreading his love for music in his classrooms, is seen as someone who does not give up and finds solutions to issues that build up. 

“Rodriguez pushes us to do better, and in his class, I feel free because I have so many options that I can do, but also I know to stay on task.” Cancion Garcia Mancia said.

Rodriguez’s fondness for music has only grown over the years. He lives a happy life and has his parents to thank for that. And he said that they had been there for him throughout his whole life, supporting him and his dreams. 

“My biggest influence would be my mom; she is a go-getter and has all this energy, and she has taught my siblings about the importance of education and to not give up and to keep fighting. As well as my dad, he went to work every day, so he made sure to go to work every day and put food on the table, so he set a great example for my work ethic.”