Since she was 4, Ms. Cierra Askerneese has been dancing. She followed her passion throughout high school and college. When Askerneese got the opportunity to become a full-time dance teacher after subbing and switching between professions, she couldn’t resist.
“I was subbing for the longest time and doing a lot of long-term dance positions,” Askerneese said. “I decided, ‘I want to be in my own official position.’”
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in dance from Sacramento State, Askerneese began subbing around the Roseville and Rocklin districts. Her first subbing job was as a long-term dance teacher at Oakmont. She took a break to work as a personal trainer, but eventually decided that she wanted to get her teaching credential.
“I just really connected with the students,” Askerneese said. “The teacher I was working with [at Oakmont] told me, ‘Cierra, you’re good at this. You should consider making this your job.’ And I was like, ‘You know, I think I might.’”
If Askerneese hadn’t found her love for teaching, she says she might have decided to follow another one of her interests: singing.
“Singing is a big passion of mine,” Askerneese said. “So [instead of teaching], I would probably be in LA performing on stage, and possibly a recording artist.”
Finally deciding to pursue a teaching position, Askerneese became a member of EdJoin, an online teaching job website, applying to multiple positions in the area to be a full-time dance teacher.
“Before getting hired, I thought that[Whitney was a nice school and it was right where I lived,” Askerneese said. “I knew that [the school’s] goals were the same that I look for, like a sense of community and setting students up for life skills beyond high school.”
Askerneese had an interview with six staff members, including Principal Scott Collins and Assistant Vice Principal Penelope Shelton. After accidentally letting Collins’ call go to voicemail because she didn’t recognize the number, Askerneese was offered the position.
“I went down to my voicemail, and was reading it, I was like, ‘Oh my God. I got the job!’ And I told my mom, and she was excited,” Askerneese said. “So, yeah, it was a long time coming. I’ve been wanting this for a while.”
Askerneese teaches Dance I-IV and Dance II Hip-Hop. Nathan Martires is one of the Dance II Hip-Hop Interns, working alongside Askerneese after the previous dance teacher Mallory Ansley, resigned last semester.
“[Askerneese] is doing a really good job at being able to take over the dance teacher position, because I know it’s big shoes to fill, but we’re all having fun, so that’s good,” Martires said.
For a few weeks over the summer, Dance I teacher Mrs. April Steele and Askerneese worked together, adding new material to the class and working on getting facilities for the dance shows. Steele provided a desk for Askerneese in the P.E. office, wanting her more involved in not only the dance program but in the P.E. department as well.
Steele said, “I think she was everything we needed. [She] lives and breathes dance and wants to be part of Whitney, and do the whole thing. I just think she’s the whole package — everything we were looking for.”
By AMELIA CHU, NATALIE DEEBLE, KIERA GREGORY, LUMINIA HUOTARI, HANNAH JANSSEN, NIKOL PARPAUTS & NAVNEET THANDI
