Alumni Spotlight: Rhonda Kraenzel ’91

Rhonda Kraenzel has dedicated her career to supporting children, families, and learning in the community she has always called home. Born and raised in Dickinson, she graduated from Dickinson High School in 1986 and enrolled at Dickinson State University that same year.

Like many students, Rhonda did not immediately know what she wanted to study. She began in computer science before switching her major to elementary education, encouraged by her mother. Once she began coursework and classroom experiences at DSU, she knew she had found her calling.

She completed her degree in December 1990 and spent the first semester of 1991 substitute teaching, which led to her first full-time position at Berg Elementary School. There, she taught fourth and fifth grade for 16 years.

With a kindergarten concentration and as her own children grew older, Rhonda later moved to Heart River Elementary School, where she taught kindergarten for six years. After more than two decades in the classroom, she stepped away briefly to help with her husband’s family business and worked with homeschool families, reaffirming her passion for supporting children and parents.

In 2021, Rhonda returned to Dickinson Public Schools as the district’s parent and family literacy liaison through a state-funded literacy grant. One major outcome of the grant was the creation of the Book Corral, a Western-themed

mobile library that provides free books to children and families throughout the community.

She is currently working on an additional literacy grant focused on learners from birth through age five, helping families prepare children for kindergarten. “What happens in the home is powerful,” Rhonda said. “You are your child’s first and most important teacher.”

Through summer park routes, Reading Rodeos, Alphabet Adventures, and partnerships such as the Trailblazer Challenge with Pizza Ranch, she encourages children to read daily and build strong literacy habits.

To engage young readers, Rhonda created the character “Rhinestone Rhonda,” a Western-themed persona designed to make reading fun and memorable. “If kids see the Book Corral and see me, I want them to instantly think about reading,” she said.

Rhonda also collaborates with the DSU Student Education Association and Lovin’ Literacy for Life on communitywide reading events and book distributions. After more than 25 years in education, she continues to emphasize relationships. “People do not care what you know until they know you care,” she said.

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Written by Alician Parks – DSU HF Student Writer