Position: Second and Third Grade English Learner Teacher
School: Forest Elementary School
School District: Forest Municipal School District
City, State: Forest, MS
Music that Describes Rhonda
Rhonda Hardy was nominated by her assistant principal, Debbie Fant.
Ms. Hardy has over a decade of experience as a highly-skilled English learner educator. Rhonda's career as an EL educator has entailed providing pull-out services to students. She has conducted professional development to help other educators understand the complexities of educating English learners. She has also collaborated with school and district test coordinators to ensure success for English language learners on state assessments.
Currently, Ms. Hardy is teaching second and third-grade English learners, and she will transition to the EL department lead position in January 2023. Hardy has a solid educational foundation and a passion for educating English learners. Ms. Hardy believes that English learner educators are the means to bridging academic gaps. How we approach providing English learners with a sound education is life-changing, as they struggle academically, socially, and emotionally. As she says, "These students are picked up from the place they call home and dropped in the middle of nowhere, and suddenly, they're expected to perform on the same level as their peers."
Ms. Hardy described a former student who came from Mexico during her 8th-grade year.
"She was so nervous that she visibly shook throughout the registration process," said Hardy. "At that moment, I assured her that I would support her and make sure that she learned English. For the next three years, this student worked so hard. She was determined to learn, and she quickly took flight. When she got the news in her sophomore year that they were moving, we were both devastated. I made her promise to finish school, and a few years later, I received a text from that young lady. It was a picture of her in her graduation cap and gown. I still have that picture on my phone."
Another story that Ms. Hardy shared was about a group of students from Africa who spoke Amharic. She and another EL teacher traveled to the Piney Woods area of Mississippi to teach these students academic vocabulary and cultural awareness. All of these students from Ethiopia graduated and went on to college, and several of them became engineers.
Professionally, Ms. Hardy has served on the Rankin County School District E L Leadership Team. She has attended several AMTESOL (Alabama-Mississippi Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) sessions. In March 2017, Ms. Hardy was appointed as a delegate for the TESOL International Convention and English Learner Expo in Seattle, Washington. She has also contributed to the Mississippi English Learner Guidelines: Regulations, Funding Guidance, and Instructional Supports for 2018 as a reviewer.
"Ms. Hardy would be an excellent choice to represent the prestigious LifeChanger of the Year program," said Fant.