Teacher Spotlight: Jolie Lindley

I’ve been teaching 25 years - 18 years in high schools in Indiana and seven here at Dawson. Additionally, I started teaching in a children’s ski school and became a marching band color guard instructor at age 18, so I’ve been involved as an educator of some sort for a long time.

I work with the greatest colleagues; they are some of the most highly educated, most intelligent, and most fun people with whom I’ve ever taught. They all have a passion for their subject areas and love working with kids. I love that Dawson gives us the freedom to explore and grow in our profession and transfer that into exciting learning opportunities for students. I also love that my students are fearless and open-minded to possibilities.

I want all my eighth-graders to leave Dawson feeling more confident in their writing abilities and seeing themselves as 21st-Century communicators, able to express themselves in a variety of mediums. I also hope my yearbook staff produces another amazing book worthy of our fourth All-Nevadan rating from Southern Nevada Society of Journalists. The ultimate goal of the eighth-grade team is to make sure that our students go on to high school feeling prepared for any challenge thrown at them there.

In March of 2012, the high school where I taught in Indiana was destroyed by a direct hit from an EF4 tornado just after school let out for the day. I was in the building when it hit. We were out of school for a month after that, and then we resumed classes in a neighboring town using an office building as the high school. Our “classrooms” were the size of walk-in closets, and we had no desks, only a few chairs, limited technology, and very few teaching/learning materials because not much could be salvaged from our school building. My yearbook staff had to drive after school and on weekends to a temporary computer lab set up in our district’s administration building to complete the yearbook on time. The entire faculty had to do the best we could to continue school in some fashion for another six weeks and make sure our seniors graduated on time. It was also important to provide some stability for our students because many of them had homes damaged or destroyed by the tornado. We all worked together to make the best of the situation, but I’ll admit it was a relief when the school year ended!

One, I was a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire! Two, I won 15 Indiana State High School Music Association state marching band championships as a performer and later as a color guard director/visual designer. Three, I was raised in the Quaker faith, which students always find interesting because we don’t have Quaker meetings here in Vegas. Finally, I’ve been in over 40 plays and musicals since I was a child. (OK, I know that’s not just one thing. I always tend to bend the rules a bit.)

I love spending time with my sister, niece and nephew (and my dog “nephew” Rooney). Whether it’s watching my niece and nephew’s soccer games, traveling to the beach or to Disneyland, or just hanging out and watching a movie, being with my family is very important to me. I also like to do yoga and take dance classes, and I love watching and attending sporting events. (#GoKnightsGo) I enjoy taking advantage of all the great things we have to do here in Vegas, be it hiking at Red Rock or Mt. Charleston, going to a restaurant with my friends, or seeing a Broadway show at The Smith Center. We live in an amazing city!

I’m very proud of all the former students I have out there doing amazing things in the world, and I appreciate it when they let me know I had a small part to play in their successes. It’s awesome to see the potential I got a glimpse of while they were in school become fully realized. I’m also proud of coming from a family of a lot of strong women who helped teach me how to be an active member of my community, giving back in whatever way I can and becoming involved in organizations that speak to me. Their example helped shape me into the woman I am today. They taught me to never be afraid to speak up for what is right and just in any situation.