One of Ashley’s High School teachers once told her: “There is no other job where you can make a bigger difference in the world than being an educator. And, you would be a great teacher.”
Ashley followed that good advice and, this year, she will have been teaching for 23 years. She began her teaching career in 2000 as a Kindergarten teacher. She transitioned to teaching 4th grade where she remained for 15 years.
Since she’s been out of the classroom, her talents and experiences were recognized throughout the years as she was promoted to Targeted Student Population Coordinator, EL Coordinator, and Testing Coordinator among others. She made herself available to assist with intervention, behavior assessment, instruction, and with seemingly everything that needed assistance.
Even though she enjoyed her years as a teacher, she felt that when you are focused on the curriculum, you face many time constraints to make relationships with students. “In my job now,” says Ashley, “if I need to talk to a student or pull them out of class for 15-20 or even 30 minutes because they are having a rough day, I have the ability to do that. I really enjoy really connecting with students on a deep level.”
“I’ve always been blessed to work with amazing principals, support staff and teachers”, says Ashley. “I’ve worked for many amazing leaders such as Lester Powell, Shari Moelter and Judy Mo. I’ve learned a lot from each one on how to be a good principal.”
Ashley hopes to be a Principal one day.