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CONSTITUENT SPOTLIGHT
This week’s constituent spotlight goes to Lindsay Rankin of Springdale.
Last week, Ms. Rankin was named the 2027 Arkansas Teacher of the Year. She was selected from a group of fifteen finalists and five semi-finalists in the state. She is known in the education community for her commitment to thinking outside the box and optimizing her students’ learning opportunities.
Before becoming an educator, Ms. Rankin worked in human resources for over ten years. After deciding to make a career change, Ms. Rankin went on to earn her Master of Education in Special Education K–12 from Arkansas State University in 2020. She has been working at Bernice Young Elementary in the Springdale School District system ever since.
Below is a Q&A where you can learn more about Ms. Rankin’s work as a special education teacher and how she’s impacting students in Arkansas.
What made you decide to make the change from human resources to becoming a special education teacher?
For me, my dream was always to be a teacher. My parents have several pictures of me as a little girl with all my baby dolls around the kitchen table playing school. However, my oldest daughter was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. At the time, life expectancy was not what it is today. Being in a school environment with that kind of germ exposure was not safe for my daughter, and I found myself working in Human Resources for a large nationwide company. I loved my job and I spent more than a decade working in human resources, where I developed a passion for advocating for people, building relationships, and helping to develop company culture. In late 2017 my husband received new orders, and we moved our family from California to Arkansas in the summer of 2018. The kids were older and more independent, and despite loving my career in HR, my heart still felt a strong pull towards teaching.
Special education has given me the opportunity to combine my professional background with something that I feel very passionate about: ensuring that every child is valued, supported, and given the opportunity to succeed.
I have said many times that Human Resources taught me valuable skills like collaboration, problem-solving, communication, and advocacy. The difference is that today, I get to use those skills as an educator to advocate for some of our youngest learners, many of whom cannot yet advocate for themselves.
I may have taken a different path into education, but I believe that the experiences I have make me a stronger teacher and a more effective advocate for my students and their families.
What do your day-to-day responsibilities entail as a special education teacher?
There really is no such thing as a typical day in my classroom, and while that has the potential of being chaotic it is also a part of what makes special education so rewarding! Every day is different when teaching students with significant disabilities, many of whom are preverbal and who all require individualized support with communication, academics, mobility, and daily living skills. My classroom responsibilities extend far beyond traditional academic instruction.
We teach all the same core contents for our students' grade levels and align them with state standards, but the pathway for our students is different. We work on literacy, math, writing, science, social studies, communication, social interactions, and functional independence. We also teach essential life skills such as toileting, handwashing, navigating the school, following schedules, and participating in everyday routines. In my classroom we strive to create opportunities to foster greater independence not just within our school, but also in their communities.
Every lesson requires thoughtful planning, differentiation, and collaboration. We use assistive technology, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), visual supports, hands-on learning, and individualized instructional strategies to ensure that students can meaningfully participate.
I think one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding special education is that they need an entirely different education. I believe all students deserve access to the same rich curriculum, experiences, and opportunities as their peers, but it is our responsibility to identify the supports needed to allow the learning to happen. The pathway doesn’t have to look the same for every child.
What’s the most rewarding part of being a special education teacher?
The most rewarding part of my job is when I get to be part of a student accomplishing something that once seemed out of reach and then I get to share that success with their families.
Sometimes that looks like a student independently communicating a need for the first time or maybe a child successfully navigating the school, participating alongside peers, or completing a daily routine without assistance.
I also love watching my students discover that they belong. Whether we are participating in school wide activities, exploring our community, or learning alongside general education peers, those experiences help build confidence and meaningful connections.
How will the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission School of Conservation Leadership Program certification you’re pursuing benefit your students’ learning experience?
Earlier this year our school earned a designation as a School of Conservation Leadership. Through that program, our students learned about conservation, native wildlife, outdoor recreation, and completed various projects. My focus is on ensuring that students with significant disabilities have meaningful access to education standards and learning opportunities available to their grade-level peers. These experiences can be especially meaningful for students who benefit from multisensory instruction.
My ultimate goal is to identify the accommodations, modifications, communication supports, and instructional strategies necessary to make these learning experiences accessible to my students.
For example, one student may demonstrate an understanding of animal habitats through a written response, while my students might demonstrate that same understanding by selecting a picture, using an AAC device, matching objects, or participating in a hands-on activity.
Sometimes the biggest barrier a child faces isn’t their disability but rather the opportunity that they were never offered.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Being named the Arkansas Teacher of the Year is an incredible honor, but I view this recognition as an opportunity to represent far more than my own classroom.
I truly believe that meaningful access to education and communication should be core foundational expectations for all students, regardless of ability, background, or address.
I also hope this recognition brings greater visibility to the extraordinary work happening in special education classrooms every day. Our students are capable of so much when we provide the right support and create opportunities for them to participate fully in their schools and communities. I don’t want students with disabilities to just be invited to the table, I want them to be expected.
Thank you, Ms. Rankin, for your dedication to helping ALL students succeed. I look forward to seeing how you continue to lead and advocate for our youth during your term as Arkansas Teacher of the Year.
Read more from Springdale Public Schools HERE.
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