Laramie County Community College’s 2017 magazine profiled educator Arshi Rizwani-Nisley’s study of girls’ literacy and job skills in Bhaun, Pakistan. She intended to bring what she learned back to her students in Wyoming. An earlier news account, preserved by CAIR, records her taking part in outreach by Cheyenne Muslim families to local churches after September 11.
Professional learning with a Wyoming audience
The college’s profile identifies Rizwani-Nisley as an education instructor and advisor to its Phi Theta Kappa chapter. A Mosal Award supported her professional-development project. She traveled with her sister Rakhshi Hamid, also an LCCC educator, to learn from students at the Institute for Literacy Movement in Bhaun.
Look closely at the learning environment
The 2017 account describes Urdu literacy, sewing and computer skills at the institute, and records interviews with 36 girls. Rizwani-Nisley wanted to use their experiences to encourage her Wyoming students to persist in education. That stated purpose is documented; the article does not measure a later improvement in graduation or employment.
The distinction matters because the overseas school was not her Wyoming institution, and she did not found it. Her contribution in this account was professional inquiry and an intended exchange of learning with students at home.
Preparing teachers for Wyoming classrooms
A summer 2024 LCCC profile places Rizwani-Nisley’s work within the college’s online elementary- and secondary-education programs. She describes teaching as a practice that requires understanding students’ circumstances and remaining willing to change. This later account connects the earlier overseas inquiry to her continuing interest in how people learn.
The same article follows Cheyenne native Lindsey Belmonte, who resumed her education in 2020 and completed an LCCC associate degree in spring 2022 before earning her bachelor’s through Valley City State University. Belmonte described the combination of online study, discussion with classmates of different ages and a practicum in K–12 classrooms as preparation for becoming a kindergarten teacher. Belmonte credits the program and its instructors collectively, rather than any one faculty member.
For readers interested in local education, the useful detail is the combination of flexible study and classroom experience. A community-college educator’s contribution can include helping future teachers reach the next stage of training, as well as teaching children directly.
An earlier conversation in Cheyenne
A September 2006 news item preserved by CAIR records Muslim families speaking at Cheyenne churches after September 11. It names Arshi Nisley among the participants and quotes her recollection of a welcoming response. The same item includes different experiences elsewhere in Wyoming, so it should not be read as proof that every community member was treated alike.
Read the college profile for the education project and the older item for the local interfaith exchange. Together they connect classroom work with public conversation, while leaving the participants’ experiences attributed to their accounts.
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Selected local stories, not a complete account of the state. Events and figures refer to the periods stated above. Check directly with organizations for current services.