Inspired by Parents

Many educators have inspired Ashley Jones, beginning with her father, now deceased, a geoscientist who later taught math and became a principal; and her mother, a high school counselor and former biology teacher. Ashley also recalls a chemistry teacher at Houston’s Waltrip High School who encouraged experiments and scheduled field trips.

When Ashley graduated from high school, she enrolled at a private university. By the end of her first year, she knew her original career choice of medicine was not for her. And because the private school was costly even with a scholarship, she came home to continue her studies at the University of Houston. Here she discovered teachHOUSTON.

Now a chemistry major, Ashley received two scholarships from her high school, and at UH is paid for helping other students with calculus through the Scholar Enrichment Program. She also recently received a teachHOUSTON scholarship. "It helped a lot. My mom doesn’t have to help me with anything," she says. And through teachHOUSTON, she secured a paid internship at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Planning to graduate in 2010, she hopes to student teach in the Spring Branch Independent School District, where she already has gained classroom experience. As a teacher, she aspires to emulate her father. "Kids come up to me and tell me the things that my dad has done for them and how it has changed their life in some awesome way," she says. "I can only hope to be like that."