Arundel Middle School dance teacher Jenny Mossburg has been named Dance Educator of the Year by the Maryland Dance Education Association (MDEA).
Mossburg is in her 10th year at Arundel Middle, where she teaches dance and directs the school’s Dance Company. Throughout her career, Mossburg has built a reputation not only as an outstanding dance educator, but as someone who is inclusive, understanding, passionate, kind, supportive, and comforting to her students both inside and outside the dance studio.
“Without her, I would not have enough confidence to achieve my goals,” Kiarra Caffee, a sixth-grader at Arundel Middle School, said in a video supporting Mossburg’s nomination.
The award is given annually to a dance educator who serves as a positive role model epitomizing fine arts dance education for all students, utilizes various teaching methodologies and plans innovative learning experiences, and conducts a balanced and sequential curriculum.
“As a dance teacher, my goal is to foster authentic relationships,” Mossburg said. “I care about my students on a personal level, and ultimately just want them to be good people. I truly believe that the dance studio has no boundaries. There is room for everyone and everyone belongs in dance class.”
Mossburg has been a key reason the program at Arundel Middle has been so successful.
“During her ten-year tenure with Anne Arundel County Public Schools, the program has intensified to become the only middle school in our district to include three full-time dance educators and an additional part-time teaching position,” said AACPS Dance Specialist Nicole Deming, who oversees the school system’s dance program. “The expansion of the program is not only because of her proficiency in dance education, but her ability to simultaneously cultivate a positive and nurturing learning environment which fosters respect and invites all students to feel safe and valued.”
Mossburg’s award was announced Friday night as part of the Governor’s Arts Awards Ceremony.