Not only is social science teacher Rosanna Cal teaching World History and Honors American History, but she is also the mom of two alumni and a licensed attorney. She also worked at the U.S. attorney’s office in Puerto Rico.
After working as an attorney in Puerto Rico and working for commutative services in Orlando, and then having kids, Cal decided she wanted a career change. However, she didn’t want to abandon her plans of being an attorney, so she began teaching criminal and constitutional law at a local university. After both kids attended Trinity (Emilio ‘20, a senior at Hagerty, who attended Trinity, 6-10, and Levi ‘24, a freshman at Hagerty, who attended Trinity 6-8, and her daughter Anna who is in 5th grade has not yet attended Trinity,), she noticed and appreciated the “holistic approach” that the school takes in regards to academics, athletics and the arts.
“Trinity does it really, really well,” Cal said. “It is a fantastic environment, and I truly believe the kids are ready for college and life.”
This isn’t Cal’s first time teaching at Trinity, as she has been substitute teacher at Trinity since 2015, when her kids attended Trinity.
This prompted her to seek out a teaching position. Last August, Trinity hired her to fill in for Upper School social studies teacher Samuel Stuart. Cal said that she wanted to teach history because she is really passionate about it.
“I love it! World history and American history is interesting to me, and I’m passionate about it so it was perfect,” Cal said.
Cal’s favorite history subject to teach is US History, and she said she loves discussing the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
“It’s hard not to be excited about how a document so old is still relatable and valid today,” Cal said. “I mean think about it, when the Fourth Amendment was drafted, the framers never thought of this thing called a cell phone that could send messages. They didn’t have that in mind when the privacy issue was incorporated into the search warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment, yet the US Supreme Court has upheld it to include text messages retrieved from a locked cell phone,” Cal said.
Now that Cal is teaching at Trinity she says she loves it.
“From a teacher perspective, I can tell you that it is personally a teaching dream,” Cal said. “[At Trinity,] you have the resources you need to provide students with a higher level delivery of the course content [by] having a laptop, camera, anchor speaker and a dedicated IP.”
When Cal first started teaching at Trinity, she said she felt intimidated and overwhelmed because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Once she finally found a solid routine and overcame the technology issues, she said she felt fine.
“I’m able to focus on the content rather than the technology issues, which I’m sure everyone had,” Cal said.
In addition to being the interim history teacher, Cal is also an adjunct and teaches online classes at Valencia College and Purdue University.
Cal grew up in Puerto Rico, and she loves to travel and watch the Hallmark Channel. She also enjoys cooking and loves feeding people.
“I love to travel, and I am a Hallmark Channel junkie,” Cal said. “I watched Christmas in July… I was that person.”
Cal hopes to encourage her students to watch the news and learn about the present as well as the past. She wants her students to be up to date on current events, so they can have productive political conversations.
“I want students to have really great conversations with others, despite having opposing points of view,” Cal said.
Cal said she hopes to make a positive impact on students and hopes to motivate them as well.
“I hope that I am able to instill in students the passion and excitement I feel for history,” Cal said. “I also want to motivate students to be good people–kind, caring, empathetic, and supportive of each other,” Cal said.
