Kimberly Paynter
/ WHYY
When Ashley Dawson was in first grade, she was one of only a few Black students at Walnut Street Elementary in Darby.
But in fifth grade, her teacher, principal and assistant principal at the Delaware County school were all Black women. It’s what inspired Dawson, who now works as a family involvement coordinator at a cyber charter, to pursue a career in education.
She was sitting in assembly when she first saw Principal Renee Musgrove and Assistant Principal Ivy Brown.
“There was something about them … I wanted to do what they did,” said Dawson. “Because they showed me what happens when you take the time and you really go outside the curriculum — you work with the student and meet them where they’re at. Those women, they did that.”