Our Youth At Risk

My first experience with teaching was when I was 13 years old. I taught acrobats as an apprentice under an older and more experienced teacher. I would also sub for her when she was sick. By the time I was 14 I was teaching my own acrobat and modern jazz dance classes at Ja Neal’s Dance Academy and continued to teach throughout high school, where I was co-captain of both the color guard and pom-pon squad. I also coached a cheerleading squad (Mt. Pleasant H.S.) my freshman year in college & choreographed for Iowa Wesleyan College & Upper Iowa University cheer squads.

My father was a 4^th grade teacher and I was surrounded by poets/storytellers, artists and historians in my family.  From a young age I was unintentionally groomed to be the teacher I am today. I don’t have a degree in teaching but I have 18 years of teaching experience in the arts.

In “Our Youth At Risk” I will tell stories of my own education as it relates to the music I create and the work I do in the community. I will also tell stories about the youth I have worked with and the injustices the youth of today are facing.

The Seduction and Manipulation of Young Poets
I Got Questions – Who Are We?
New post! Cookie Cutter Poets

More to come so keep checking back!