Written by Stephanie Gordon
It’s no secret that March is National Reading Month. Because the beloved Dr. Suess was born in the month of March, children, teens, and adults across America dive into a few more books throughout the month to celebrate what seems to be a lost pastime: Reading.
Reading is not lost at Hillsdale College. Its students support children in Hillsdale’s community by tutoring K-12 students, journaling with elementary students through the GOAL program, and promoting the Champions are Readers Program, which is designed to create an interactive reading and mentoring relationship between members of Pi Beta Phi sorority and children.
Some Hillsdale alumni remain in the area to continue to support local schoolchildren. Erin Dowd Williamson, ’01, a reading recovery teacher at Hillsdale’s Gier Elementary School, and Erin Wonders Brackman, ’18, a literacy specialist at Jonesville’s Williams Elementary School, have devoted their careers to helping children become excellent readers.
Both Williamson and Brackman knew early on during their time at Hillsdale College that they wanted to serve as public school teachers. Both were also elementary teachers before taking on reading and literacy positions.
Williamson, an early elementary education major with a triple minor in early childhood education, general science, and health and physical education, grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan, and came to Hillsdale College to play basketball for the Chargers. “I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I also wanted to play sports at the collegiate level,” said Williamson.
Brackman, a history major and early childhood education minor, grew up in Hillsdale and graduated from Hillsdale Academy. “I thought I might be a business or marketing major, but I told myself I had to get out of those classes because they were not for me,” Brackman recalled. “I took an Intro to Early Childhood Education class in which I volunteered at Mary Randall Preschool. After that, I knew I was supposed to be a teacher.”
Mary Randall Preschool was infinitely influential to both Williamson and Brackman. The hands-on, real-life experience was unmatched. “It was all about bridging the classwork with real-life applications that you could actually see,” Williamson said. “There’s a lot you can learn in a classroom with a textbook, but there’s so much you learn by going into the classroom. Mary Randall teachers Stacy Vondra, ’95, Kathleen Connor, ’79, and Sonja Bindus, ’92, were very influential.”
Brackman’s sentiments were similar. “The ladies at Mary Randall taught all of my early childhood education classes,” said Brackman. “They were influential in cultivating my love of teaching, and I learned how to interact with children and families. They taught me how to be a teacher in real life, not just on paper.”
Brackman said she focused on getting as much experience as possible. “I did everything I could at Mary Randall,” Brackman said. “I did apprenticeships at Hillsdale Academy, I worked at the local Montessori school during the summer months, and I did my student teaching at a public school. I really tried to build my resume to prove I had real-life experiences. I was also exposed to great teachers who know what they’re doing.”
Williamson student-taught at Pittsford Area Schools in a second-grade classroom, and Brackman student-taught at Jonesville Community Schools in a first-grade classroom. Both women took teaching jobs at the respective schools after their graduation. Williamson taught second grade, while Brackman took on a fourth-grade position after completing her teaching certification.
“We have work to do here in this county,” said Brackman. “I thought if I could just work on this little sliver of the pie, it would be the most rewarding experience. The things you feel called to do are not all rainbows and sunshine. Being fresh out of college, I knew I could tackle the job and establish meaningful relationships with students.”
The Brackman family
Brackman taught one year in fourth grade and five years in first grade. In 2024, she took on the literacy position at Jonesville Community Schools. “Really, any first-grade teacher is a literacy specialist. The number-one thing students have to be successful in is reading. It’s been a nice bridge to the literacy specialist position because reading is my passion project. If students can read, they can be successful in anything.”
After teaching second grade for one year at Pittsford, Williamson was offered a first- and second-grade looping position at Hillsdale Community Schools, where she was also the women’s varsity basketball coach at Hillsdale High School. “I was busy,” recalled Williamson. “I was teaching, coaching, and completing my master’s degree in literacy studies. Something had to go, so I stopped coaching. I really wanted to be in the classroom.”
Brackman believes a solid foundation is needed for being in the classroom. “I appreciated my Explicit Phonics Reading Instruction class because it taught us how to read,” she added. “I knew I could bring these skills to the classroom. Some think that public schools limit what teachers say and teach. Maybe it is in some places, but I can choose my read-alouds. Instead of reading something ‘junky,’ I can read a classic children’s book like Pinocchio.”
With Brackman spearheading phonics training in kindergarten, first, and second grade, she has watched students perform better than they ever have. “It’s been a big highlight for me,” Brackman said. “It’s very exciting.”
In 2012, Williamson took on the reading recovery position after welcoming her first child with husband Joe, ’03. “I typically worked with the lowest 20 percent of the grade level, and we focused on one-on-one sessions on reading and writing. When the needs grew, so did the position.”
Williamson’s position changes annually, meeting needs where necessary. This year, she’s focusing on working with kindergarteners. “The intention is to expand the knowledge base, especially during these younger years,” said Williamson. “It’s a lot of observation, too. I focus on reading, handwriting, and working with small groups of children. Some days it can be a lot of problem solving—it’s different every day, which keeps it interesting. The rigor I experienced at Hillsdale College has pushed me to work efficiently and gain time management skills.”
The hardest part of the job? Finding time to do it all. “It never feels done,” Williamson added. “You have to cut it off at some point, and you’re not in total control of things. The students keep it real, though, and seeing that light-bulb moment with a student is rewarding.”
“Anything literacy-based in school is the foundation of confidence students need to succeed in anything,” added Brackman. “When you teach reading the right way from the beginning, the odds of success are pretty high. Then students can come to school and learn science and math and social studies and have that confidence. The best part about teaching is that it matters. The hardest part is that it matters every day.”
Both Williamson and Brackman said they sometimes miss teaching in just one classroom. “There’s something about that classroom family,” said Brackman. “There were things I didn’t realize I was going to miss being on my own.” “Those student and parent relationships are so strong,” added Williamson. “It was an adjustment, but I knew I was ready to reach more students through helping teachers.”
The two women plan to call Hillsdale home for the foreseeable future.
Brackman and her husband Trent have an almost two-year-old son, Charlie, with another son on the way in March 2025. “We’re not going anywhere,” Brackman said. “Both of our families are here, and we’ve been able to build a good friend village and are plugged in at church. Our core is Hillsdale, and it has its own unique heartbeat.”
The Williamson family
Williamson and Joe, a math teacher at Hillsdale High School, have three children: Heath, Maya, and Max. They stay busy with athletics, especially with Joe as the head varsity football coach for the Hornets. “There’s something about this small community that just rallies,” said Williamson. “Our roots are here in Hillsdale. I have been supported in the classroom and outside of the classroom. You don’t really get this anywhere else. My career dreams are possible because of the people in my path, with students being at the core.”
Both Williamson and Brackman are excited to kick off National Reading Month with their students through various activities like bingo boards and prizes and dress-up days. “Our theme this year is going to be Michigan,” said Williamson. “Author of the Michigan Chillers series Johnathan Rand will be speaking about his books with our students. We are having a school-wide title competition, and high school art students will collaborate with classrooms to create book covers to bring the title to life.”
While reading and literacy are at the heart of a Hillsdale education, that passion is carried out to children across the country through Hillsdale’s dedicated alumni. Hillsdale County students are fortunate to have many Hillsdale College graduates like Williamson and Brackman who play an important role in their educational journey. And in the spirit of National Reading Month, Dr. Suess once wrote wise words: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of Virtue and Valor: The Official Blog of Hillsdale College. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children – Eloise, Flora, and Jack. When she has a spare moment, she enjoys paleo baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, and breaking a sweat at the gym.
Published in March 2025
