Abstract
Joni Cordell, a PDK International member from Tensed, Idaho, has volunteered as a competition judge at the association’s annual Educators Rising conference since 2018. She also endowed a PDK International scholarship, the Ladder to Opportunity Scholarship, dedicated to first-generation college students who demonstrate financial need, are English leaders, or are Dreamers — the term for undocumented youth who were brought to the US as children.
Keywords
Volunteering is inspiring for Idaho PDK member
As we approach what’s expected to be the most highly attended Educators Rising national conference in June, we owe a debt of gratitude to the volunteers who give their time and expertise to help students realize their potential. Some of these volunteers are PDK members who have volunteered for years. One familiar face is Joni Cordell from Tensed, Idaho, a PDK member since 2000 and competition judge since 2018.
Cordell’s educational journey echoes that of many current Educators Rising students. She was inspired by her own teachers. “I knew from the age of six that I wanted to be a teacher due to my 1st- and 2nd-grade teacher, Lottie Mae Ford,” she says.
In high school, Cordell was a member of Future Teachers of America, the previous version of Educators Rising. Now, she has come full circle by becoming a PDK member and getting involved in Educators Rising. “I am at a place in my life that giving back is a major choice I make,” she says. “By volunteering to judge, I not only get the privilege to interact with the educators of tomorrow, but I also get to give back.”
Besides being a judge, Cordell has also endowed a PDK International scholarship, the Ladder to Opportunity Scholarship, dedicated to first-generation college students who demonstrate financial need; are English learners; or are Dreamers, the term for young, undocumented youth who were brought to the U.S. as children.
“I was the first person in my family to attend college,” she says. “I was an emancipated minor at 17, and in addition to scholarships, I was able to secure educational grants and loans.” Cordell is glad to be able to support a scholarship that “is steered toward students who, like me, need opportunities.”
Like so many others, she had found that the Educators Rising students at the conference inspire her as much as she inspires them. “I see the next generation of teachers not just making a choice but answering a calling,” Cordell says. One of the categories for which Cordell has served as a judge is the Educators Rising Moment. In the competition, students share why they want to pursue a career in education. Many of the students, said Cordell, referenced a teacher who had made a difference for them.
“Several students ended their presentation by saying ‘I want to be that teacher,’” Cordell said. Before school started the following year, she was asked to speak to her school’s staff, and the students’ stories inspired her message: “I told them to be that staff.”