For as long as everyone can remember, Teen Leadership Council has been run by the fun loving guidance counselor, Debbie Lubrano. But since she is retiring a new sponsor has to step up.

Resource Specialist, Danica Rodriguez, has been working at the Academy for two years now, but she has been a part of the AHN family for much longer than that. Rodriguez is an alumni who graduated in 2008 and then went to the University of Florida where she got a degree in Psychology/Family Youth and Community Sciences on the Occupational Therapy track. When at UF, she was one of six Chairpersons for Student Government (and the only female at the time). Her Division was the leadership and service division and consisted of 200 people with a budget of 500,000 dollars.

Rodriguez learned a lot during her time through that program, “It was wild but it definitely fine tuned my leadership skills”

With all these leadership skills, she came to the Academy with a lot of tools to help students grow to their full potential. All these characteristics make her one of the best candidates to become the new moderator of TLC.

McKenna Weathers is a sophomore in TLC and is more than thrilled to have Rodriguez join the club that has helped shape her throughout her years at AHN, “Ms. Rodriguez is very skilled in her work, and I’m excited to see the new insight and ideas she brings to the club next year.”

Debbie Lubrano and Rodriguez have been working hand in hand along with the presidents, Christina Thompson and Audrey Cooper.

“Over the last months Lubrano and I have been going through years of paperwork and history, talking to old and new members, discussing changes and laying out what we want the vision for TLC to be. My transition has been a lot of work but with every step, I get more and more invested and excited,” Rodriguez explains.

Many of the younger members are excited for this new change and cannot wait to see what the next years of TLC has in store. Although sad to see Lubrano leave, it will be fun and exciting to see what the future holds.

Rodriguez could not be more excited to get to work with the AHN girls on a whole new level: “I am excited about the opportunity to work with our students on a whole different level. I can’t wait to get to know the TLC girls and help them through their journey at AHN. Also, I am a leadership geek and have always been involved in leadership clubs so sharing my knowledge and experience with the club is exciting as well!”