Spotlight on board chair of Dancing Classrooms Greater Richmond 12/31/2020, 6 p.m.
Education always has been a focus for Victoria S.âVickieâ Oakley.
A retired chief academic officer with Richmond Public Schools who now serves as senior adviser for University Instructors consulting group, she has aided the academic experience for years.
Ms. Oakley also aids younger generations of students through a less conventional educational method â dance.
She is chair of the board of Dancing Classrooms Greater Richmond, which helps youngsters in fifth and eighth grades cultivate life skills through tango, waltz, polka, swing and other dances.
Started in Richmond in 2012 by Maria Vysotskay, Dancing Classrooms Greater Richmond is the local network of the national nonprofit created in 1994 by Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau for the American Ballroom Theater Company in New York City. The Greater Richmond program is one of 25 networks in the United States and around the worl
Former gang member turns life around, now Missouri teacher of the year
Darrion Cockrell grew up living with relatives and in foster care centers. His teachers, he said, gave him hope and a chance to thrive.
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Darrion Cockrell, who wasn’t much of a student, has been named Missouri’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.
The former gang member, 34, who now teaches physical education at Crestwood Elementary in the greater St. Louis area, told
he didn’t care much about school as a child because of his difficult upbringing.
Darrion Cockrell, the St. Louis-raised Missouri Teacher of the Year, grew up living with relatives and sometimes in foster care centers. It was his teachers, he said, who gave him real hope and a chance to thrive.
Educators saved him during a tough childhood Now he s Missouri s teacher of the year nbcnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nbcnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Former Gang Member Wins Missouri’s Teacher of the Year Award
image: BlackNews.com
Darrion Cockrell, who had a rough childhood and became a gang member before he turned 10-years old, turned his life around and has now been named as Missouri’s 2020 Teacher of the Year.
As a child, Cockrell said he took education for granted and joined a gang when he thought he had no other choice.
“We were just already in it because of our family,” he told
Good Morning America. “I didn’t care about books. I had to go home and figure out what I was eating. I had to figure out if my lights were going to be on.”