Rachael is a member of the Messiah College Honors Program, which includes taking honors classes and attending Honors Congresses and Lectures on campus. She is also part of the College’s Diplomat Program, which assists during presentations for Open Houses and on Accepted Student Preview Days. In addition, she was selected to serve on a small panel of students to interview candidates for a new Dean of the School of Education and Social Sciences.

During her senior year in high school, Rachael volunteered for two hours each day at a local elementary school. Initially, she was to help in a fourth grade classroom, but instead was sent to the Resource Room. That unexpected experience showed her how much she enjoyed working with students with special needs.

Additional experiences working with children include being a math tutor for an elementary student. At church, she is a volunteer Kid’s Club leader for girls in grades one through three. During the school year, she baby sat two afternoons each week. This will be her second summer working as a nanny for a family with two boys, ages 7 and 10, learning a lot about children and responsibility.

She has worked on the family owned and run hog farm since she was young. She helps on weekends when she is home and during breaks from school. She works in the barn before going to work as a nanny and mows yards in the evenings.

Rachael is not so naive as to think she is going to be the best teacher ever and impact every student she teachers. She said, “I do want to change children’s lives and although the majority of children may move through my classes and not be permanently impacted, I hope at least a few students are infinitely changed because I have loved them, taught them, and we have mutually become better people.”

Rachael was nominated by The People’s Place Gallery of Intercourse, Pennsylvania.