Rosalie Sauceda ’20, is making significant strides in her community through education, empowerment and compassion. Having recently completed her Master of Arts in Educational Entrepreneurship from University of the Pacific’s Benerd College, Sauceda is currently an English teacher at Lincoln High School in Stockton, where she serves as a co-advisor for the Gender and Sexualities Alliance and she also recently developed a podcast with her husband titled “Educators, not Robots” which is a series that features conversations with local teachers. 
 
For this work, she was recently recognized by the California Department of Veteran’s Affairs (CalVet) with their Trailblazer Award, which distinguishes veterans who have made a significant impact within their communities. Sauceda joined the U.S. Army reserve after graduating from Manteca High School. She then received her commission through Santa Clara University’s ROTC program after graduating from San Jose State. She served five years as a Signal Corps officer in Georgia and South Korea before leaving the service in 2013. 

Sauceda is dedicated to making the world a better place, but realizes that change needs to happen locally. “My goal is to make a change within my community, where people will be proud to say they are from Stockton,” said Sauceda. She notes that the Master’s program in Educational Entrepreneurship has helped her recognize how to reach her goals.  “It is important in education to be imaginative, creative, audacious and flexible,” said Sauceda, skills she learned and enhanced while in the program. 

Sauceda appreciated that her cohort was full of like-minded people, who wanted to make a change in their community. She also stated that the networking within the community because of the program has significantly helped her in making a change within the community. In fact, her podcast “Educators, not Robots” was conceptualized while she was in the Entrepreneurship Program. 

The podcast was inspired by Army OneSource, which is a resource dedicated to serving military personnel and veterans, especially those suffering with mental health issues. Sauceda expressed the importance of this resource because of the stigma that still lives in the military related to mental health. She wanted to create a podcast series that addressed the issues that teachers have to face daily, as well as create a resource for teachers to decompress. “My goal is to show that teachers are not babysitters, we are human and we are often not treated as if we have any emotions, hence the name Educators, not Robots,” explained Sauceda.  This concept that started within the classroom has now become widely available on various podcasting programs as well as YouTube.

Sauceda wants to continue to create change in her community as an educator and a leader. She is currently in the Gifted and Talented Education certification at UC San Diego Extension, and hopes to enter educational policy or become an administrator. She continues to empower her students and her community by providing educational resources and safe spaces for decompression. She hopes to continue to be a resource and make change for those disenfranchised in Stockton, especially students.