Building Bridges to Belonging
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Building Bridges to Belonging *
Students who are learning English bring unique strengths to our schools—and they need educators who know how to unlock them. Discover actionable tools to help every student feel welcome, valued, and empowered to reach their full potential. I offer practical tools, strategies, and resources to help you build bridges to belonging for your English learners.
My name is Rhonda Hittenberger Ortiz. My calling in life is to build bridges of understanding, communication, and mutual respect. I’ve been fortunate to stand in diverse settings and connect with remarkable people who seemed different at first—only to discover shared interests, common experiences, and similar values that make differences fade.
Growing up in a multicultural, multilingual setting led me to dedicate my career to supporting English learners in schools. I’ve spent 30 years in education advocating for students as an EL, Spanish, and French teacher; leading as the English Learner program director of the biggest public school district in my state; as a high school counselor; and as a state instructional coach. I offer practical tools and insights to help educators create more excellent, inclusive classrooms. My aim is simple: empower educators to build bridges that welcome every student.
What teachers say about Rhonda’s support…
“Thank you so much for your leadership and the work you do to advocate for our students and their families each day. We appreciate you and are so thankful for the difference you make!” ~ ELL K-5 teacher
“This was amazing and would love for this to be presented to all teachers at least at my school, everyone would benefit from this information.” ~ Middle School classroom teacher
“I want to sincerely thank you for everything you do for the ELL teachers in (our region). You are a gift to us and because of that our students benefit greatly.”~ District ELL Coordinator
You can learn online anytime by checking out my newsletters below…
