Rhoades has worked as an applied theatre and drama in education practitioner, teacher, and researcher with young people from Grade 1 to the graduate level for 15 years. Currently, she is the Theatre Education Coordinator and Theatre Recruitment Coordinator with the School of Theatre and Dance. Her research focus is on working with local refugees, asylum-seekers and other newcomers in partnership with 5 community organizations. Last spring, she co-facilitated a theatre program with refugee women to help them build confidence in preparation for the US citizenship test. This year, the new Community-Engaged and Activist Theatre class is collaborating with newcomers from Cameroon, China, El Salvador, Honduras, Kurdistan, and Nepal. For the Equity, Access and Inclusion in Education and Performance course, her students created a podcast consisting of interviews with BIPOC theatre artist-activists from areas such as Uganda, England, Singapore, Colombia, NYC, South Africa, Australia, and Taiwan.

Rhoades served for two years as Assistant Professor of Applied Theatre at Brock University in Ontario where she taught undergraduates training to be drama educators in schools and theatre artist-educator-advocates in community settings. Rhoades engaged in multiple collaborative projects with the Niagara Folks Arts Multicultural Centre, including a partnership with Niagara PRIDE utilizing Forum Theatre in the Centre’s LGBTQ Inclusion Campaign with Social Issues Theatre for Community Engagement students. Rhoades has also led professional development trainings on anti-racist and cross-cultural drama pedagogy for a variety of education audiences, including the Dramatic Arts Department at Brock University, the Niagara Catholic District School Board, and community children’s theatre company, Carousel Players.

Rhoades trained teacher candidates in the Masters of Teaching program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education on integrating drama education techniques in cross-curriculum praxis to prepare candidates for working in Toronto K-12 schools that hold a degree of inclusive excellence. Rhoades directed and facilitated devising projects in public schools, youth-serving community organizations, and through her own doctoral research with marginalized youth. Rhoades served as Education Programs Manager for The Boch Center (previously named Citi Performing Arts Center/The Wang Center) and as an AmeriCorps Teaching Fellow with Citizen Schools, both in Boston. Rhoades trained high school youth in acting techniques and directed five of their original performances, as well as directing performances in drama residencies at ten public elementary and middle schools. Rhoades received acting training in London from the British American Drama Academy and continued performing as a member of Playback Theatre companies and an improvisation troupe in Boston.