Ms. Maranda Rhodes is the new Life Skills teacher at the high school.
According to Ms. Rhodes, she graduated from Milton in 2001. She then graduated from Tusculum University in Tennessee with her bachelor’s degree in physical education, she added.
Ms. Rhodes said she was not always a life skills teacher. She taught at Meadowbrook Christian School but has been teaching at Milton since November, she added.
Ms. Rhodes said she switched from physical education to special education because she had been a long-term substitute for the district, and she really liked working with the students. She added that physical education and special education have the similarity of helping students improve their use of muscles and motor skills.
According to Ms. Rhodes, she helps her students work on their educational goals and life skills, like taking care of themselves. She said they also learn math, letters, reading and set personal goals. She and her students work as a team with their families, she added.
Ms. Rhodes said her goal as a teacher is to learn how to be a better teacher, which includes pursuing a master’s degree.
Ms. Rhodes added what she enjoys most is that she gets to work with children. She said she enjoys “being with the kids and reaching their goals.”
“When I was working in the church, I was with adults too much,” she added.
Nurse Ms. Carmella Hills, who works in the classroom, said that she loves working with Ms. Rhodes. “She is a friendly, open, honest person that loves kids,” added Ms. Hills.
According to Ms. Rhodes, the most challenging thing she had to overcome as a teacher was learning the “ins and outs” of special education. She added that her Mentor Ms. Kristen Dolan has helped her learn.
“I always wanted to be a teacher,” said Ms. Rhodes.
