Ms.Rushing
Hello. My name is Ms. Rushing. I am the Physical Education teacher at Las Colinas Elementary School, but I've done many other things before I arrived here.
I was born in Indiana and experienced many moves while my Dad was in the Army, including a stay in Texas. In fifth grade, I moved to Rensselaer, Indiana and grew up in a great farming community with 4 sisters and 2 brothers. I'm the oldest. My parents still live there. My Dad is a doctor and my Mom owns and operates two retail stores, "Long's Gifts" and "The Needles Point".
In high school, I was interested in music, musical theater, and sports. I did well academically, but truly loved music, acting, and sports. For money, I was a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons, something I still enjoy doing today.
I went to Ball State University as a theater and music major and evolved into a Kinesiology major, as I became fascinated with the body and all its complexities. I graduated from Ball State in 1985 and went to work for the Muncie YMCA. I was an aquatics director, a camp director, and later the director of all youth programs.
I moved to Texas and worked for the Airport Area YMCA for several years. I had a yearning to go back to school, but could not fit it into my YMCA work schedule. That is when I first looked into teaching. I began my teaching career at T.A. Sims Elementary School in Fort Worth in 1991. During that time, I worked part-time for the Lewisville YMCA and completed my Masters degree in Kinesiology at Texas Woman's University and completed Pre-Med courses at Tarrant County Community College. I took the MCAT which is the test needed for Medical School. I did ok, but not good enough to be accepted into a medical school. I was going to take the test again, but a wonderful baby girl named Sidney came into my life and my priorities changed. That was 1995.
With that change to my family, I left teaching and spent time with Sidney and then later had another addition to my family, Blake. Once my home life was in order, I took a job as a Physical Education Teacher at Fannin Elementary with Dallas Public Schools. I started mid-year and then worked another year before getting a job closer to my home. I have been here at Las Colinas since 1999. It has been a good fit for my family. My first year here, my son; Brycen, was born. Brycen is now in 4th grade.
The students, faculty, and families at Las Colinas are a blessing to me and my family and I am fortunate to have found such a caring place to work. My students teach me new things each and everyday. I love the students of Las Colinas.