Submitted photoTCCHS dance teacher Katie Gaston has been dancing since childhood.

THOMASVILLE — Thomas County Central High School students are twirling their way to success and confidence through instruction by dance teacher Katie Gaston.

Gaston, who graduated from TCCHS in 2008, is currently celebrating the end of her third year of teaching at her alma mater. It was during her time at Central Middle School (now Thomas County Middle School) that she discovered she wished to become a dance teacher.

“I remember waiting outside for my mom to pick me up from school, and as soon as I jumped in the car I told my mom that I had officially figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she said. “At the time that I decided this, there weren’t any jobs available for a position like that unless you were going to teach at a private studio. I am so thankful that this became a position at Thomas County Central High School.”

Gaston began her instructor career in 1996 with training at the Dance Theater in Thomasville, but she has been involved in dance since the sixth grade. Gaston served as a TCCHS Dazzler for all four years of high school, performing in various competitions and parades in Disney World during her time on the team. She also attended a summer dance camp at the University of Georgia during her junior year before being hired as a teacher at Colquitt County Fine Arts Center in Moultrie during her senior year. During this time, she taught jazz, hip hop, ballet, and tap, among others.

Gaston’s desire to become a dance teacher was influenced and fostered by three teachers in her life: Lynn Wise (TCCHS Dazzlers), Lovedy Griner and Beatrice Corbin (Rose City Ballet). She received a degree in early childhood education from Southern Regional Technical College while continuing to teach dance, flute, and piano at the Colquitt County Fine Arts Center. At the same time, she taught at the Rose City Ballet, where she danced for 22 years.

This year, Gaston celebrates 23 years in dance and 11 in teaching it. Of the different types of dance Gaston teaches, her favorites are lyrical and ballet. She believes they help dancers learn discipline, strength, and control while still being very beautiful to watch. Of these two, her students seem to have a preference toward lyrical pieces.

“My favorite dances she teaches are the lyrical pieces,” TCCHS dance pupil Madison Dixon said. “I enjoy the beauty of a slower, more intense, graceful piece.”

Since joining the TCCHS staff, Gaston has impacted the lives of many students through her teaching.

“Ms. Gaston is an amazing, outgoing and lyrical teacher,” student Malaysia Walker said. “She helps us bring out our true identities and feelings about life through dance. She walks us through a lot that we never thought we could do.”

Aisha Hendry shares a similar view of how Gaston impacts her students.

“Ms. Gaston is a wonderful teacher,” she said. “She is always giving us opportunities to show what we can do in dance. She is a joy, and she is very uplifting.”

Gaston believes dance is a class that should be taught in all schools because it helps individuals to learn discipline, hard work, self-expression and teamwork.

Several of her students have already begun to learn many of these concepts and cherish them as reasons they enjoy dance.

“Dance is important to me because it’s free to express yourself and helps me to feel more confident in myself,” Dixon said.

 Walker shares this sentiment, citing dance as one of the most important ways she can express herself.

“…It brings out my inner feelings and emotions that I have built up in me through my dancing,” she says.

Gaston’s mentors taught her to step out of her comfort zone and become a confident dancer. She hopes students leave her studio with the same confidence.

“I want to be that teacher for my students,” she said. “If just one student says to me, ‘Because of you I didn’t give up.’ I will have done my job.”