Leading a class of kindergarteners requires patience, and Whitney Cords positively possesses that trait.
Being composed is easier said than done, but Cords has displayed a calm demeanor at Fortis Academy for nine years while guiding a room of 5 year olds. She prides herself on it and makes a point to start each day fresh, no matter what happened the day before.
Leading each day with that mindset helps Cords twofold. It builds relationships with her students and gets them to do things the right way for themselves, not just to be rewarded.
“It is hard,” she said. There are days that are harder than others. I just give the kids that idea and give them confirmation that we’re going to make mistakes, it’s OK, we’re going to start over, I forgive you, but we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and try again the next day.”
Others have asked how she does it, and her answer is simple – if you teach kindergarten, you’re meant to be there. It’s one reason why she was honored as an Excellence in Teaching winner as part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA) Excellence Awards for the 2022-23 school year.
Cords said students’ growth was evident for the 2022-23 school year at Fortis, which has outperformed the district for 14 years. English Learner students who started the year not knowing the language showed progress in their fluency and aismweb scores. She also cited students’ success in achieving their objective of 46 sounds and their 30 words goal in aimsweb, which she credited to the help of Fortis’ paraprofessionals.
“It was a good class that worked really hard, they meshed well together, they were respectful learners,” she said.
Being a teacher was always Cords’ nature, thanks in part to her family dynamics. She was drawn to it by her two older sisters who are in education, and being one of seven siblings means there are a lot of nieces and nephews to care for.
“It’s just my nature to be helpful to kids,” she said. “It’s a fun profession, it’s challenging as well. It makes me happy in a lot of ways.”
Keep up the excellent work, Mrs. Cords!
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About Fortis Academy
Fortis Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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