teachers that teach

From the inception of RAVE Performing Arts, I knew one thing would remain important to us - a quality staff of teachers.

When I started teaching in Central, that was the first time I had ever heard of the idea of "teachers" on staff at other places who were under 18. This concept perplexed me greatly. I was an assistant teacher in middle/high school, but at that age, I was never in charge of a whole class myself. How can you teach without experience? Sure, everyone has to start somewhere, but how can you be sure the teacher your child is assigned was properly prepared before taking on the class?

Classroom management, disciplining behavioral issues, and finding your "teacher voice" are all things I personally had to learn through experience and proper training. Being a good dancer myself did not prepare me for those things alone; I had to learn how to teach. I had to study teaching in itself.

I remember once meeting with a college dance professor I worked with, and her relaying to me that she wished there was a "dance police." She spoke about how in her classes at LSU, she was getting students in her beginner level classes who were struggling and came to her saying, "I don't understand how I'm not getting this, I've had 15 years of dance training at my studio and teach there now." They took dance at a studio from the ages of 3 through graduating high school, and were struggling in beginner-level dance classes in college. This also goes to show that you could have danced your whole childhood, but not be qualified to teach a class just based on that alone. Not every studio has the same standards or quality teachers to truly teach their students correctly.

Imagine getting your child's teacher list for school in the fall, and finding out their assigned science teacher had no credentials, a college degree, or certifications, but they were always good at science growing up, so the principal thought they'd do...

When I began RAVE, I knew I wanted teachers who were all over 18, well-trained, and experienced. I wanted teachers with credentials, certifications, and the know-how to really produce quality classes. Any incoming teachers who may have grown up at our studio and had not yet achieved such credentials were immersed in our teacher training program, where they shadowed a teacher for a year and were given educational material along the way. This has been a pillar for RAVE since the beginning. Now, even an experienced teacher is met with challenges from time to time. No one is perfect. But we at least try to have well-educated teachers who are professional and can properly handle whatever happens in class. In fact, about half of our teachers are school teachers by day and dance teachers by night.

At RAVE, we have staff who hold certifications from Dance Masters of America, CLI Studios, and Progressing Ballet Technique. Some have college degrees or minors in Dance and Theatre. We have continuing education through organizations like the National Dance Educators Organization, Discover Dance, Dance to Learn, Once Upon a Ballet, and more. We are "dance nerds." I'm so proud of our staff, who always come in inspired and knowledgeable.

Even when it comes to "baby classes." Some studios think younger teachers are great for these because "you don't do much at that level." However, anyone with a degree in early childhood education (like some of our teachers) knows that there is so much more to teaching early childhood. It really is a very specific skill set that usually requires a very experienced teacher who understands the whole child, and developmentally what is appropriate and what isn't for that age group.

We love to teach, and we work hard to do our best.

At the end of the day, you can have all of the credentials in the world, but the biggest impact is showing up for your students, giving them the best you've got with a lot of heart, meeting them where they are at, and helping them get where they want to go. I am proud to say at RAVE, we all try our best to do exactly that. The credentials prepare us, but the heart takes us the rest of the way.