ROANOKE, Va. – Kindergarten teachers need lots of special attributes to be successful! At Burlington Elementary School in Roanoke County, Sara Rhodes possesses the special mix of skills, knowledge and God-given virtues to connect with the young minds in her class.
“She is a very enthusiastic young lady, but she is so patient and she’s so kind and she has built phenomenal relationships with her students which really is the foundation of education. If you don’t make that connection it’s very difficult to get children to learn,” Burlington Elementary School principal Beth Grim Jennings says.
“I knew that I would need patience, but that’s kind of a characteristic of me is that I have patience even outside of my classroom. So I just try to remember that they are five years old. They need me to not get on them every single second of the day,” February Education Impact award winner Sara Rhodes explains.
On this morning--we briefly interrupted the connections with her little ones to honor her--as the February recipient of the Education Impact Award. Blue Eagle Credit Union provides the checks, and Sara provides the passion and perseverance---to make her classroom a positive learning experience for all--and she’s getting results!
So what’s the most fun for you in terms of when you’re teaching them maybe when the lightbulb goes off for them and they pick up a concept or an idea you’re trying to get across?
”When they start reading full sentences, I will jump up and scream because I am so excited for them and I start to grow love for them,” Rhodes says.
The Radford grad tells us she knew all the way back when she was in kindergarten--at Glen Cove elementary(in Roanoke County) that this was her calling, and she’s stayed true to her dream.
“Wanting it from kindergarten, you know that’s impressive. You know that she held onto that dream and fulfilled it, but parents saying that it was transformative power that she changed her son academically and socially. I think both of those are critical to the long-term well-being of that child,” Blue Eagle Credit Union chief Talent officer Diane Smith says.
Sara went from the Masters program at Radford to an Instructional Assistant position at Burlington. She took over her own class midyear of last school year. From there--she’s been full steam ahead.