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Rosa to be honored for his devotion to students
Among many things, he works with those learning English.

Deborah Sederberg
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - Mario Rosa is the coordinator of English Language Learners (formerly English as a Second Language) of Michigan City Area Schools.

But according to his staff, Rosa's own vision of his job goes way beyond and above his job title. Of his own accord, he takes responsibility for feeding the hungry, getting treatment for the sick, clothing those whose wardrobe might not include school clothes and making college possible for students who, if they thought about college at all, thought of it as an impossible dream.

Perhaps happiest of all, MCAS students with limited proficiency in English, one of the subgroups examined when ISTEP results are tabulated, always make adequate yearly progress as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind act.

On March 20, Rosa, whose first language was Spanish, will be an honored guest at the annual meeting of English Language Learning and Migrant Education professionals. There, his colleagues will pay tribute to his devotion to meeting the needs of his students by presenting him with the Carmen Natal ESL Recognition Award.

Rosa says he is humbled.

"But I am so very appreciative to my staff for nominating me," he said.

Nancy Moldenhauer, an English Language Learners instructor at MCAS and one of the four staff members who nominated him, said, "Mario gets food from local pantries and delivers it to homes where he knows children are hungry."

What's more, he collects gifts for families with no money to celebrate Christmas. When it comes to his attention a child needs clothes, he goes looking for clothes in the correct size.

"I've seen him take children to a dentist or to a doctor," Moldenhauer added.

"What else could I do?" Rosa asks, as if his commitment to serving others were a part of everyone's job. A deeply spiritual man, Rosa says his father, who died 10 years ago, instilled an imperative toward grace and service in each of his six children.

He and his wife, Amy Sue Rosa, work hard to pass those values on to their sons, Caleb and Gideon.

"My dad always reminded us that we are where we are because others helped our parents," Rosa said. In addition to everything else he does, Rosa guides non-citizens through the complex immigration system toward citizenship.

Citizenship was not an issue for the Rosas, who came to the shores of the mainland from Puerto Rico, a self-governing territory of the United States.

Nonetheless, Rosa remembers a time when his family moved to Gary.

"My dad was told he could not buy a house in Miller, a Gary neighborhood with a lovely sand beach along Lake Michigan," he said.

Now, when older people try to persuade Rosa they have no prejudice in their hearts despite having said something hurtful, "I sometimes think, 'I might believe you if you hadn't treated my father the way you did'."

In the 1950s and 1960s, children in school usually had no access to English as a Second Language classes.

"So, I went to classes with my mother at Riley School," Rosa said. "We walked about 10 or 11 blocks."

These days, keeping alive the values his parents conveyed to the family, Rosa does whatever he can to alleviate suffering and see that children get what they need.

Moldenhauer, one of Rosa's fans, admires her boss.

"Mario goes around to churches, groceries and gas stations, looking for children who should be in school," Moldenhauer said. "He always puts the children first, no matter what."