Aurora has had some top-notch educators over the years, but not many have been as versatile as Waubonsee Community College English as a Second Language teacher Marilyn Rockstroh.
After earning a master’s degree from Indiana University, she arrived to work in West Aurora District 129 as a speech and language pathologist in the 1970s.
In a communication disorders class, she remembers working with some kids who were almost non-verbal.
“In that small group with someone who knew what language was about, some began to bloom and started talking,” Rockstroh said. “It was very fulfilling.”
But as a teacher in a specialized area, she also needed to be an advocate for students, and Toni Vaughan, parent of a student with whom Rockstroh worked, remembers her being exactly that.
“She went to bat for my son when he was struggling,” said Vaughan. “She stood up to administrators and didn’t back down. She went to bat when nobody else would, and did it for all of her kids. She was tenacious and wanted to do what was right.”
Rockstroh agreed that specialized education had its challenges.
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“It was frustrating because there were district guidelines, but sometimes you had to look at the child and the instincts of the teacher and parents,” she said. “It was different from a traditional classroom and I cared.
“There was also a wonderful lady named Wilma Fitzpatrick who was our coordinator and also was very ‘pro-student.’ But our whole group of speech and language pathologists was incredible, creative, and smart. They were amazing,” she said.
She sees some of her West Aurora students occasionally, and says that “it’s nice to see those who are successful and to think and hope that I had just a little something to do with it.”
During the 1990s, Rockstroh had a district colleague who was teaching English as a Second Language at Waubonsee Community College, and she became interested in that as well. It was a spark which led to a different, but no less important, second career which began in 2000.
“I was taking Spanish classes, and of course was already interested in language,” she said. “When there was an opportunity to teach non-English speakers, I thought that I’d love to help.”
For several years, Rockstroh blended her District 129 career with teaching ESL in the evening, but she remembered that in spite of the long days, working with ESL students was always energizing.
She recalled that, during those years, there were only about two times when she thought “I’m too tired — do I have to go?”
Also during that time, she attended multi-cultural seminars during two summers in Costa Rica, and spent time in Mexico during several more summers in a continuing effort to learn Spanish well.
“You’re exhausted at the end of the day, and your brain is tired from thinking every minute,” Rockstroh said of her times in Mexico. “It gave me a big appreciation of what it’s like as an adult to try to learn another language.”
She retired from District 129 several years ago, but has continued as an ESL teacher at Waubonsee.
The Waubonsee ESL program, which is free for students, is a grant-funded program. It is smaller now, partly because of the state budget problems, but Rockstroh looks forward to continuing to teach in it.
“It’s very important that we facilitate learning English for the people who want to do it,” she said. “The students in your classes know the only way to succeed in a country is to speak the language.”
Tom Strong is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News