Teacher Feature: Mrs. Sherman Teaches Dance

Mrs. Sara Mitchell Sherman is the dance teacher at Crofton High School and she leads the Crofton High Dance Company. She teaches dance, dance for athletes, dance company, and unified dance and leadership. While this is her first year at Crofton High, it is not her first year teaching in Anne Arundel County as she taught at Meade High School.

She has also previously taught high school in another state, as well as teaching independent artists, art integration for public educators, and pre-professional and professional dancers. She went to school at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Western Australian Academy of Fine Arts for her undergraduate and Ohio State University for her graduate degree.

Mrs. Sherman wanted to teach at Crofton High because it excites her to be a part of a team that “has an opportunity to develop its own mission, vision, and culture with their community.” She said she wanted to become a teacher because dancing is a practice that combines both physical and intellectual skills that she wanted to “integrate into her daily life and share in creative projects with young dancers.” She specifically teaches dance because she enjoys “observing her dance students explore their creativity and have the chance to engage in a physical dance practice in a safe, creative and collaborative environment.”

Lucy Dennis, a ninth-grade student at Crofton who has Mrs. Sherman for honors dance company, said that Mrs. Sherman makes sure that her students are comfortable and that they thoroughly understand the choreography and topic before continuing. She describes Ms. Sherman as being passionate about teaching and being kind towards her students.

Meredith Doherty, a ninth-grade student at Crofton who also has Mrs. Sherman for honors dance company, said that she is very understanding about the virtual situation which Doherty explains is especially hard because, in dance, it’s complicated to see, hear, and learn the choreography. Her favorite thing to learn from Mrs. Sherman is the importance of angles in dancing.

Mrs. Sherman said she takes pride in her students who participate in class with “open minds and who take risks” in the classroom. She says that her students “are doing an amazing job and should not go unrecognized for their energy and commitment.”