Congratulations to Miss Ashlee King, a fourth-grade teacher at Sonnie Hereford Elementary School, who has been selected as an HCS Changemaker!
Originally from Nashville, TN, Miss King first saw the enormous effect that those in the education field can have on people by observing her mother, who worked as a financial aid advisor for two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Miss King says that she helped students who often had a more difficult start in life, often taking them into their home to have a place to live while attending college. Miss King got to see these individuals go on to successful professions and knew that her mother had completely changed their lives for the better.
As early as high school, Miss King also worked as a volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club, and once worked with a fourth-grade student who couldn’t read. That experience was instrumental in shaping her goal to help students learn that vital skill, because she saw how it serves as a foundation for everything else that comes after. She seeks to be there for her students, not only to teach them important skills, but also to provide much-needed emotional and social support during the early developmental years.
“Miss King is a dynamic teacher because of her passion for the students,” says Sonnie Hereford Principal Anthony Davison, “she’s been amazing from beginning to end.” Miss King’s classroom is a place where students are always looking at where they were yesterday, setting a goal for today, and planning to meet those goals tomorrow. Students keep data notebooks for reading tests, track how many words they read each day, and celebrate when they meet Accelerated Reader (AR) goals. Miss King says, “I want them to get to a place they weren’t at the day before.”
When she isn’t teaching, Miss King loves spending time with family. She says that’s been a challenge due to the current COVID-19 situation, but they do a lot of group FaceTime chats to stay in touch. She also likes taking pictures, is active in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., participates in church groups, and considers herself a bit of a music fanatic.
Miss King says that the most important thing she wants the students to learn from her is a better sense of self. She wants them to be aware of who they are and how they relate to their communities. She says, “I want them to know how to treat people, and to look out for people.” Miss King saw how her mother helped change the course of people’s lives, and now she is carrying on that incredibly important legacy of service for the students of Huntsville City Schools.