As school starts for the Washington DC area we check-in with our favorite middle school teacher Ashley R.!

Becoming a middle school dance teacher has always been my dream of mine since I was a little girl. I began dancing at the young age of three and immediately became inspired from watching the older dancers leap and turn around me. Throughout middle school and high school, I continued to take dance classes as an elective in order to further my pursuit of becoming a professional dancer. I successfully graduated Temple University with a Bachelor's Fine Arts degree in dance education. Waking up every morning to teach young aspiring artists is such a great honor. 

During middle school, my dance teacher inspired me. Ms. M not only taught me dance techniques, such as ballet, modern and jazz, she also taught me the importance of establishing morals, goals, and pushing myself beyond the limit. My goal is to instill these lessons into my own students every day. When they found out that I had made the First Ladies of Football, they were super excited and supportive of my accomplishments. "Ms. R, that's super cool! I want to be like you when I grow up!" 

I come from a large family of educators. My mother was an elementary school teacher and is now a retired assistant principal. My father is a college professor, grandparents were both principals, aunts and uncles are all teachers in the performing arts. What can I say? We are eager to share our gifts with the world! I received the 2016 Alumnus of the Year Award in my first year of teaching! I love what I do!