Class of 2025: Rory Meadows gets an ‘A’ for anticipation

By Sian Wilkerson

Even before the fifth-grade letter she wrote to herself, Rory Meadows knew exactly what she wanted to do and who she wanted to be.

In that elementary school classroom assignment, the future Virginia Commonwealth University student asked herself basic questions: How are you? What are you doing now? And then:

“‘Are you still going into education? Are you still going to be a teacher?’” Meadows recounted. “So I’ve always known.”

Over the years – and through practice – her certainty has only grown stronger.

As the daughter of two educators – her dad is a principal and her mom teaches kindergarten – Meadows, who will graduate this month with her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and teaching from VCU’s School of Education, learned an early passion for helping others.

Meadows is the third of four siblings, all of whom were inspired in different ways by their parents’ work. Her older sister works for a school for the blind in Boston, while her older brother works for an environmental nonprofit in Kentucky.

“Their job impacted us in such a good way because through them being teachers, we learned compassion and empathy” she said. “The biggest thing in our household was you learn how to treat people from a young age: You treat them correctly. You care about other people and about understanding people as a whole.”

In the classroom, Meadows was “wonderfully inquisitive,” asking questions with the same genuine enthusiasm that she brought to her work with students, said Lisa Cipolletti, Ed.D., an associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning who worked closely with Meadows throughout her time at VCU.

“Her warm smile, positive attitude and encouraging spirit make her someone people of all ages enjoy being around,” Cipolletti continued. “Teaching Rory was a joy, and I’m sure she’ll continue to make VCU proud in everything she does moving forward.”

After receiving her associate degree from Thomas Nelson Community College, now known as Virginia Peninsula, Meadows transferred to VCU’s School of Education. Through the Teacher Preparation Program, her clinical experiences started with practicum courses and culminated in a semester-long student teaching internship.

As part of the 16-week program, students spend eight weeks apiece in two school placements, initially observing classroom instruction before taking over responsibilities.

“Parent communication, grades, meetings – everything,” Meadows said.

While taking over a classroom full of students could seem daunting, Meadows said she primarily felt a sense of relief.

“The unique thing about education is you really don’t know if [your vision] is really fully correct until you’re in the classroom and there and doing it,” she said. “So for me, that was always my identity. I was always telling people, ‘I’m going to be a teacher, I can’t wait.’ So for me to finally be in the classroom, it felt really good to have that confirmation.”

Meadows also took part in the Ruth Harris Scholars Program, a collaboration between the Virginia Department of Education, the Training and Technical Assistance Center at VCU and the School of Education’s Dean’s Office. Scholarships are awarded to students interested in working with schoolchildren and young adults with dyslexia or other language learning disabilities.

Last year, Meadows completed a five-day summer training in the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching literacy, followed by a practicum tutoring students in the fall. Every day, she said, she was “mind-blown.”

“Right now, a lot of [education] is changing for good,” she said. “There’s a lot more science-backed practices that are taking place in the classroom.”

Meadows plans to take that real-world experience into her first teaching job. If all goes to plan, she said, she will be at the front of her own classroom in January.

“It sounds cheesy, but I’m looking forward to finally [being able to say], ‘This is Miss Meadows’ classroom,’” she said. “And more than that, to start building my own relationships and finally putting all this stuff that I’ve learned throughout my placements through VCU and through my background –  to finally have it all come together and really start working.”