“Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.”
Dr. Seuss – “Oh, The Places You’ll Go”
By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com
On the final day of the 2022-23 school year, there was a natural buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air at SBCISD’s Angela G. Leal Elementary, as the countdown to the summer hiatus commenced.
But for career educator Rolando Monsevalles, the day took on a different meaning as, after nearly 30 years serving the district — first as a classroom teacher, then as department head, and finally as a campus administrator — this day marked the final day he’d be around students in a regular classroom setting.
So on this particular morning, Monsevalles did one of the things he loved to do most as an educator, he began the morning by reading to his students, not in the classroom, per se, but to the entire student body and staff as he took command of the campus intercom system.
His book of choice was one of his favorites, “Oh, All the Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss, a title that was apropos for the occasion.
For the uninitiated, the book is written in the style of other Dr. Seuss classics and serves as a metaphor for life’s journey — its joys and its challenges. As the veteran educator struggled keep his own emotions in check as he flipped through the pages of the book, Monsevalles, who spent the entirety of his career at SBCISD, reflected on his own journey with all its trials, tribulations, joys and friendships that were forged along the way.
“You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look ‘em over with care.
About some you will say, ‘I don’t choose to go there.’
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
You’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
You’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
You’ll head straight out of town,” the book reads.
In the days leading up to his retirement, now with the students enjoying the summer hiatus off campus, the NEWS found Monsevalles at his office on-campus as school operated with a skeleton crew.
The walls in his office were bare, absent of any artifacts or décor that would otherwise hint at the occupant’s tastes, personality and character. Typically, he explained, the walls would be ornamented with the University of Texas memorabilia, the campus administrator’s alma mater where he earned a bachelor’s degree in government in 1979.
On this day, however, the assistant principal, was just a few days away from turning in the keys to the campus, for good.
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