Rita Elder

Rita Elder spent her professional career as a Learning Specialist,  the last 25 years at Lincoln Community School.  In her work she combined formal assessment with diagnostic teaching to study the learning profiles of young students who were failing to learn with traditional classroom methods. She enjoyed the challenge of tapping the non-linguistic intelligences of dyslexic children to design teaching methods and classroom accommodations which would allow them to learn successfully.  Rita had a particular interest in visual processing and language disorders.

Rita has always had a passion for growing and preparing delicious food.  Related to this interest she helped form the first organic garden at LCS and move the school’s lunch and snack program to a healthier local/organic base.  She has also taught private cooking classes in the community and regularly cooked for a halfway house for former prisoners.

Rita and her husband, John, raised three children in Bristol, Vermont, where they continue to live.  Within the community, Rita has served on the Bristol Recue Squad and on the Bristol Conservation Commission.  She was founding director of Bristol Friends of the Arts and served as chair of the Tari Shattuck Educational Foundation.

Rita has recently retired from teaching and is relishing the chance to develop new skills as a concertina player, an active grandmother and a volunteer for a number of causes.