Week One

¡Hola desde Puerto Rico! On October 30th, I arrived on the island and quickly adjusted to a new culture, new home, and new school!

New School:

This past week was my first week teaching at my new school, Wesleyan Academy! WA is a private, K-12 school where the elementary school is K-6 and the high school is 7-12. While I am here, I will be teaching 7th grade Life Science and 12th grade Biology 2 (mainly Anatomy). I have also been able to teach other class in the science department. The school is located in Guaynabo and is only about 5 minutes from our house. The drive is beautiful every morning, the sun is aways shining and there are palm trees along the way!


Everyone at the school is very friendly and welcoming! My mentor teacher made sure I met every faculty member on my first day (many even more than once!). The librarian there actually graduated from Messiah, what a small world!


There are a lot of differences among the school here and in the states. The biggest difference to me is the schedule. There are 9- 45 minute periods a day, without including homeroom and a break. But, my co-op and I only formally teach 3-4 classes a day. If not teaching, we are planning, or supervising students off times. This has been very different from the back to back classes at home that we are used to. It is fairly bittersweet, less time with students which is sad, but a lot more time to plan!




The courtyard. Half of the school is actually closed off because of Earthquake damage.

Thumbs up for student teaching! #GoEagles

Classrooms fit anywhere from 10-30 students.

A hallway in the school. All of the classrooms open to the outside.

Alex (left) and Veronica (right)

Our house. I get my own room... what a treat!

Peppa, or as I call her... fluff

The sweetest welcome!

New Roomies & New Home:

I also have two roommates that I will be living with while I am here! Alex works at the school as an 11th-12th grade English Teacher. She student taught here last spring and loved it so much she stayed! Alex is also fostering a dog, Peppa, while she is living here. I love to take her on longs walks on the beach (well or on the sidewalks). My other roommate is Veronica. She goes to Anderson University in Indiana also studying English for Secondary grades and is spending her second half here, just as I am doing! They are both very sweet and welcoming and I have loved sharing this beautiful home with them. (Hopefully we can bump English and and Science knowledge while we are here!)






What's different?

There are a lot of differences I have been noticing among here and back home!

  • One word... mosquitoes! Just within a couple of days, my legs are definitely filled with mosquito bites. The mosquitoes are not as big or noticeable like at home, they are small and you don’t even know they are biting until you start itching. Bug spray is a must, even at school.

  • The students call all their teachers simply, “Teacher”. I miss the students calling me “Miss Roeder” but I guess they are used to it!

  • Because of Covid-19, students stay in their classroom throughout the day and teachers rotate to different rooms. There is no time in between classes so they are a little more laid back in that sense, and students are never truly "late".

  • More spanish is spoken at school that I had expected. Obviously, I knew PR’s first language is Spanish, but since the school is an international English speaking school, I thought the students and teachers would be speaking mainly English. Teachers are told to teach only in English, but sometimes go back and fourth. Also, students speak a lot in Spanish too. I tell them I will teach them science if they teach me Spanish!

  • There are a good bit of potholes in the road and sometimes there isn't lines on the highway. It make's driving interesting... but it has been fun!

  • The heat has not been that bad, the school and our house have great AC.

  • The groceries are more expensive here... I miss Aldi :(

  • The students clap when I teach... they're cute.




The school's 15 passenger van that we get to drive!

Found a beach.. or five :)

El Yunque National Forest

Did you actually go if you didn't get a pic of the sign?

My favorite view

Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetary

Highlights of the week:


  • This past week I explored many beaches! The water is so clear, the palm trees are beautiful, and they are perfect for hammocking! The beaches are also not as crowded as at home.

  • I attended two churches: Dorado Bible Baptist Church and Christ Community Church. The services are longer than at home, but is nice that there they are both English speaking ones! Everyone is super nice and welcoming.

  • I explore the San Juan National Historic site. Old San Juan has many colorful building it is beautiful.

  • I went to El Yunque National Forest. There are many hikes and beautiful scenes. I plan to go to the waterfall next time!

  • We attended a festival in our town, there was a concert and vendors! Santa Claus also made an appearence (Christmas celebrations have already begun!).




Not in OCMD anymore!