Rhode Island 2004 Teacher of the Year - Kathleen Mellor

Kathleen Mellor is a veteran English as a Second Language teacher from Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown. At the time she was recognized as Rhode Island Teacher of the Year, she had been teaching for 23 years. After selection as the State Teacher of the Year, Kathleen was chosen to represent all teachers across the nation as the National Teacher of the Year, making her the first and only educator from Rhode Island to receive the national award. Kathleen is driven by her passion for working with a diverse community of learners and by the satisfaction that comes with each measure, however small, of positive student growth and understanding. She was instrumental in the design and implementation of the North Kingstown ESL program, and also developed her own action research project helping her students’ non-native speaking mothers to improve their English proficiency. Kathleen earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Education degree from Rhode Island College and a Master of Arts degree in Teaching ESL & Cross Cultural Studies from Brown University.