With the new school year starting for La Joya Community High School, comes with new students and classes. For choir this year, they will be getting a new instructor to help them sing out loud to hundreds of students. The NAU graduate Mr. Rodriguez, will be the one taking over the choir for this year and will be composing our singing lobos to reach their full potential.

Javi Rodriguez grew up in Avondale, Arizona, where he graduated at Westview High School, and later graduated at Northern Arizona University where he received his bachelor’s degree in secondary music education. Mr. Rodriguez has already been teaching for two years; however, he came to La Joya because he saw the warm welcome that he got from students last year and saw that La Joya was the school for him.

This is my hood. This is where I grew up; Mr. Rodriguez said, “When I met some of students last year, I remembered how welcomed that I felt, and I was so eager to come back here”.

Mr. Rodriguez gets a lot of his inspiration from his Choral Director Dr. Edith Copley. Edith Copley  was one of the choral professor at NAU where she served from 1993-2021. She led around 100-voice auditions for 23 years where she served as the chorus-master  for Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra for 27 years.

“Every day she inspired me. She was so passionate about her craft. She was so passionate about the kids that she was interacting with daily, and she made such a huge impact on my life, which has inspired me to want to become just like her and make that same impact”.

Mr. Rodriguez uses a lot of his professor’s methods to teach his classes. He plans to show everyone the growth and passion that the La Joya Choir will bring this year. Grace Kim, who was the previous instructor in the past, showed us what our singing lobos can do. With her gone, many are expecting a lot from Mr. Rodriguez and his choir.

“I want them to feel comfortable and confident while they’re singing, and I want them, most importantly, just to have a good time while doing it. Yes, we can learn notes and rhythms all day, but what I’m trying to build here is a community centered around music”.

Every year choir is always surprising the audience with their astounding performances. And with Mr. Rodriguez as their new instructor, many say that there is no doubt that the choir will keep doing the same with Mr. Rodriguez as their instructor.