BRANDON, FLA — This week’s A+ Teacher has been dancing since she was 2 years old. Allison Houghtaling is now a dance instructor at Dance Quest International. She’s been working there for more than 15 years.
“I love teaching because I get to mentor and be with kids and hopefully make a difference in their lives,” said said Houghtaling.
She’s in charge of scheduling and staffing and also teaches Acro dance classes.
“Acro is kind of like gymnastics but for dance. We only do floor work. We don’t do bars or beams or anything like that but it’s so that we can incorporate tricks into our dances,” said Houghtaling.
Allison teaches dancers just starting out and those who have been working at this for years.
“It doesn’t happen overnight and you have to work hard and you have to persevere and you have to have determination in life. Not just here in Acro but you have to work hard for things,” said Houghtaling.
Mary Beth Maynard, the founder and director of this studio, has seen how hard Allison has worked over the years to make this Acro program and others successful.
“She has this sweet, calm presence about her where I feel that the kids, they feel her love and because they feel her love, they want to please her,” said Maynard.
“She does really cool dances and she teaches us really fun tricks,” said Averi Gallman.
Allison loves watching her students nail those tricks and showing them how hard work pays off.
“I hope that they leave with not only Acro skills but also life skills because I think a lot of times in society it’s about instant gratification and Acro is not that,” said Houghtaling.