by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Roger Groves is a lawyer and if it weren’t for his daughter, he may have never become a teacher.
This is Groves’ first year as a full-time assistant professor at Florida Coastal School of Law. He teaches federal, state and local tax law, business of associations and business of sports.
Groves was a tax judge for a decade and later a partner in a law firm on the West Coast. He always thought he would just practice law, but it was his daughter Monica Groves who inspired him to teach.
“Three years ago I watched her teach her class for the first time,” Groves said of his daughter who teaches sixth-graders English in Atlanta. “She influenced me to be a teacher.”
It was in that same year that Groves began teaching at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Ore.
“As a result of seeing her and the impact she had on those children, I started thinking,” said Groves. “You can have an impact on young kids and I was able to see the kind of seeds you can plant.”
But Monica isn’t an ordinary teacher. Monica, 25, graduated from the University of Virginia at the age of 21. She was one of a few college graduates that were chosen by Teach For America to educate students in low-income communities. Monica was assigned to Jean Childs Young Middle School in Atlanta right out of college.
Three years later and after taking one year off from teaching to receive her graduate degree from Harvard, Monica is still teaching, but she is also becoming famous very fast.
NBC contacted Teach For America three years ago during Monica’s first year as a teacher. They were looking for a teacher to feature in a documentary they were doing about teaching.
“They (the teachers) went through an interview process and they selected her (Monica) for the documentary,” said Groves.
An NBC camera crew spent a year with her recording her experience as a first year teacher in an inner city school. The hour-long documentary, “The Education of Ms. Groves” aired on Dateline NBC and later won the Peabody Award.
“The documentary is all about her and her experience,” said Groves. “Because she came from a privileged background, she had to learn how to relate to these children and deal with a different environment than what she grew up in.”
“The Education of Ms. Groves” starts out with Monica excited and anxious about teaching. She soon finds herself disciplining her students rather than teaching them English, according to a press release.
“These are very unspoiled kids and she (Monica) had to learn to relate to them,” said Groves. “After I went to her school to watch her teach, I saw her passion for teaching and for the children and just the reaction she was getting from her kids.
“She was very inspiring.”
Monica is back at Jean Childs Young Middle School and she says the reaction from the school in regards to the documentary was great.
Not only has the documentary won the Peabody Award, but it is also up for an Emmy. Last week the Sundance Channel aired a four-part series — an expanded version of the Dateline NBC documentary.
“This (the four-part series) is also about her and her experience,” said Groves.
There have been stories about her in the New York Times, O Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. William Morris Agency is also considering a TV series about Monica and recording artist and “Moesha” star, Brandy, has expressed that she wants to play Monica in the series.
“They definitely have had some meetings,” said Groves.
Groves is very proud of his daughter and her accomplishments so far in her life.
“It is more important to have her succeed than what I may do from here on out,” he said. “It gives you that warm, fuzzy and bubbly feeling on the inside when you have a child like Monica.”
Groves has been following in his daughter’s foot-steps — but only the teaching part. First teaching at Lewis and Clark Law School and now at FCSL. There were a few reasons Groves decided to come to Jacksonville, and he does admit one reason is the great weather.
“I don’t want to wait to enjoy the weather in the winter months,” he said.
But it was the law school that really attracted him to Northeast Florida.
“The law school provided a great opportunity to expand in business and sports law,” he said. “The opportunities to expand in those areas is also consistent with their mission.
“A part of their mission is to have professors who have experience in practicing law. They appreciate that.”
Groves added that he has taken what he has learned while practicing law and has applied it to teaching.
“I am very happy to be at a school that appreciates that,” he said.
Before he came to FCSL Groves spoke to some of the current students to see what they thought of the school.
“It felt good to see some bright students who are energetic about the subject matter,” he said. “They are hardworking and prepared.”