A Lifetime of Teaching Lives On: Rhoda Amron

We at Literacy Partners were never were fortunate enough to meet Rhoda Amron in her lifetime, but we thank her for the legacy she has created at Literacy Partners through the generosity of her friends and family after her passing.

Rhoda spent her entire career (and beyond) as a driven and creative teacher, completely committed to her students and their families. For 30 years, she taught at P.S. 201 in Queens, initially with fifth graders. However, she saw her students were unprepared – primarily lacking the reading skills necessary to be successful. So she addressed the problem directly. She moved to teach lower grades with the hope of starting kids with a stronger foundation in reading and writing.

She used her teaching skills at home, too, with her three children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She read to them, and encouraged their own reading and creative writing. She showed them how reading and writing connected them to the greater world.

Even after she and her husband, Richard, retired, she taught other retirees in biweekly classes on literary analysis of short stories.

Rhoda passed away suddenly in December of 2017 at the age 91. Mourning Rhoda, and eager to celebrate her life, her family sought a way to honor her legacy as a teacher. They found Literacy Partners, and because our work embodied Rhoda’s ethos, they urged loved ones to make donations in Rhoda’s memory. Dozens did.

It made sense to choose Literacy Partners. Rhoda always emphasized to parents the vital importance of reading with their children every day, knowing that was the best way to prepare them for school. It is not surprising that our mission so resonated with Rhoda’s community; these are central themes to our work.

We are so grateful that Rhoda’s friends and family gave generously in her memory to Literacy Partners so that we could continue to empower families to read and learn together, and so that Rhoda might live on through our work.