Inspired by her community work in Clinton, Rhodes changed her career path and expanded upon her passion for personalized learning at Thornwell Charter School

by Sarah Murphy

Emily Rhodes ‘20 had her sights set on becoming a financial advisor when she first started her undergraduate degree at Presbyterian College.

But after spending her collegiate summers serving the Clinton community at Thornwell Home and School for Children—a local nonprofit built to support and empower communities—Rhodes discovered a different passion she wanted to pursue: education.

Emily Rhodes ’20

“I worked for a summer program at Thornwell called Momentum; it’s a camp that incorporates fun and learning to engage students in academic but exciting activities.” says Rhodes.

Students who participate in Momentum are evaluated for their reading and math competency at the beginning of the summer. Using this evaluation, the Thornwell staff creates personalized growth plans for each student to then implement during the summer months. These tailored education plans provide the support students need to start their next school year stronger and avoid the learning regression that often occurs during the summer months.

Momentum group leaders, of which Rhodes was one, facilitate the individualized learning plans. Not only did this experience at Thornwell inspire Rhodes to begin a career in education, but it also sparked her interest in personalized, competency-based learning.

“At Momentum, I developed a love for teaching and for meeting students’ needs to help them wherever they are academically,” says Rhodes. “I loved the age group I was working with and changed my career course from financial advisor to middle school teacher.”

Rhodes continued to explore personalized learning as an undergrad at PC and during her student teaching experience at Thornwell Charter School (TCS). “I really gained an interest in the personalized learning concept, connecting it back to my days working for Momentum.”

In 2020, she graduated from PC with a bachelor’s degree in middle level education and concentrations in mathematics and language arts. Rhodes remained in Clinton to again serve the community, this time as a middle school teacher at TCS. Her work in personalized learning continued to grow, and she saw an opportunity to conduct her own research on the subject.

“I wanted to gain a better understanding of how [personalized learning] impacts teachers, students and schools,” says Rhodes, who is currently teaching seventh and eighth grade math at TCS. In her study, Rhodes organized classroom observations and interviewed teachers and students about their personalized learning experiences. She found that across the board, participants had greater levels of satisfaction being in a school that implemented personalized learning compared to their experiences in traditional educational environments.

“Teachers found personalized learning more manageable and easier to implement than they originally thought. [The approach] also developed a school culture that was conducive to learning: having the students see that everyone accomplishes things differently and at their own pace really allows for an acceptance that these students need to feel in order to ask questions and do the best they can.”

Following her study, Rhodes wrote an article about her findings entitled, “Implementation of Personalized Learning in a New Charter School.” The article was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal, The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography.

Throughout the entire research and writing process, Rhodes looked to Dr. Julia Wilkins, middle level and secondary education coordinator and associate professor of education at Presbyterian College, for advice and mentorship.

“My former professor, Dr. Wilkins, encouraged me even after graduation and is the reason I was able to publish my article,” says Rhodes.

The positive effects of personalized learning are evident at TCS, which began utilizing personalized learning methods prior to Rhodes working there. In 2021, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at TCS earned the Platinum Award of Excellence for performing in the top 25 percent of the state on the SCReady state test.

“This really solidifies that meeting these students where they are instead of expecting grade level performances from them the entire year helps them grow tremendously and is exactly what they need to thrive,” says Rhodes. “It is a long process to fully implement [personalized learning], however, we are on the right track to continue moving forward in that process in the school.”

Read more about Rhodes’ research and personalized learning in her article here.

Visit the Presbyterian College Department of Education website for program information.