Emotions filled the air as dozens of attendees dressed in Sam Houston’s signature blue listened to speakers at the Arlington ISD board meeting. There was sadness. There was anticipation. Then came a flood of memories.
In the first row, Lena Rodriguez was weeping as the first speaker finished talking about her husband’s legacy.
Rodriguez’s husband, Joey, was a soccer coach at Sam Houston High School before he died more than two years ago from COVID-19 complications. He was 44.
The night before the April 18 meeting, she sorted through her husband’s items. Despair from two years ago never truly lifted, but Rodriguez felt somewhat excited. A few weeks earlier, she was asked if she would approve of her husband being the namesake of Arlington ISD’s junior high.
She agreed, but the board still needed to vote. She attended the meeting with low expectations, Rodriguez said.
The meeting soon became a celebration of Joey Rodriguez’s life. Sam Houston principal said he instilled resilience, determination and excellence in the minds of students. A former Sam Houston principal said coach Rodriguez taught his students to win but also that losses don’t define them. Multiple former students said he was not just a teacher — he was their father figure and friend.
The testimonials went on.
“I didn’t need any reminders that I married a saint. I know I married a saint,” Lena Rodriguez said. “But when you hear these stories again, you’re like, wow, he was just an incredible person, and it’s just almost like maybe he was too good for this world, in a way. Like, he was just so good.”
At the April 18 regular meeting, when the board of trustees unanimously approved naming the district’s newest school Joey Rodriguez Junior High School, the crowd erupted with joy.
As part of a nearly $1 billion bond in 2019, the Joey Rodriguez Junior High School will replace Carter Junior High, which was opened in 1958. Carter Junior High will remain open until 2025 and be demolished once Joey Rodriguez Junior High School is ready.
The ISD broke ground for the new junior high last October at the east Arlington site of Knox Elementary School, which was also demolished.
The junior high is the last school replacement funded by the 2019 bond to be completed. Thornton, Berry and Webb elementary schools have all opened. Joey Rodriguez Junior High School is currently under construction and scheduled to open in fall 2025.
“You know, over time, those memories might stay, generations come and go, but the school is going to impact so many people,” Lena Rodriguez said. “He’s still going to be teaching. He’s still going to be coaching — just in a different way.”
Arlington ISD alumna Jo Anna Cardoza said that, although Joey Rodriguez didn’t grow up in east Arlington, he embraced, loved and believed in the students of the community.
“East Arlington is a Latino community, and that means the new junior high in honor of coach Rodriguez will give current and future students from east Arlington an amazing role model to look up to,” Cardoza said at the meeting.
The 155,000-square-foot building will include 48 classroom spaces, performing arts classrooms and rooms for special education programs, science labs and a storm shelter. Outdoor spaces include a new entry plaza and canopy and a regulation synthetic turf football field.
With that new space, comes old memories.
“I remember telling him the first time that I met him, ‘Coach, you’re going to go to state,’” said Anthony Criss, former Sam Houston football coach.
“Coach, we haven’t even been to regionals,” Criss recalled Joey Rodriguez answered.
Criss said he told Joey Rodriguez: “Coach, but I believe in you, and I know what you do. I know what you mean to kids. I know your work ethic, and I know we’re going to get there.”
Rodriguez took his team to the playoffs in all his 12 years leading the team, starting from 2009. In 2015, his team reached the state tournament for the first time in school history, and again in 2017. He was also Teacher of the Year and District Coach of the Year.
“I will be there on that first day of school, when this (new school) happens, to welcome all those kids and let them know this legacy that they’re gonna be a part of,” Criss said.
The legacy is already being carried forward from the Rodriguez home.
The coach’s 13-year-old daughters both spoke at the meeting.
“Our hope is that the young people who walk through the door of this beautiful campus will find refuge and recognition,” Mila Rodriguez said.
“We’re grateful to share our family’s name with the Arlington community and thank you for the time and honor,” Lola Rodriguez followed.
Normally, Lena Rodriguez would have been the one to publicly comment about Joey Rodriguez. But this time, their twin daughters asked if they could speak instead. It would only be fitting that she let them do so, she told the Arlington Report following the meeting.
“Joey Rodriguez Junior High is going to be about those types of kids. That age, that demographic, those kids that are hungry for a better future,” Lena said of her daughters.
Dang Le is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org or @DangHLe. At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Arlington Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.