National Teacher of the Year Ashlie Crosson returns to Duty Free Lunch with sharp insights, honest reflections, and urgent ideas. From rural education to teacher burnout to student empowerment, Ashlie's national exposure has given her new insights into the state of teaching today.
National Teacher of the Year Ashlie Crosson returns to Duty Free Lunch with sharp insights, honest reflections, and urgent ideas. From rural education to teacher burnout to student empowerment, Ashlie's national exposure has given her new insights into the state of teaching today.
Do you have some feedback for us? Send an email to podcast@psea.org.
Learn more and watch for upcoming episodes at psea.org/podcast.
Voiceover:
Welcome to Duty Free Lunch, the official podcast of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Join us as we unpack the issues that matter most to you. From cutting-edge classroom strategies to thought-provoking policy discussions, if it impacts PSEA members, it's on the menu.
Aaron Chapin:
Hello and welcome to Duty Free Lunch. I'm PSEA President Aaron Chapin. I'm here with PSEA Vice President Jeff Ney and PSEA Treasurer Rachael West. Hello, Jeff and Rachael.
Jeff Ney:
Aaron, how are we doing today?
Aaron Chapin:
Delightful. How are you Rachael?
Rachael West:
I'm spectacular.
Aaron Chapin:
Wow. Are you back on East Coast time, Rachael?
Rachael West:
I think so.
Aaron Chapin:
Are you sure?
Rachael West:
Not really.
Aaron Chapin:
It took a little bit of adjustment. Jeff, are you back to East Coast time?
Jeff Ney:
I think I've turned the corner, but I'm still not there yet.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, for those of you wondering, did we go on a fancy vacation together?
Jeff Ney:
No, we didn't.
Aaron Chapin:
No, we did not. We have important work to do. We were out in Portland, Oregon, the fine northwest of the United States for the 2025 National NEA.
Jeff Ney:
National NEA?
Aaron Chapin:
The NEA Representative Assembly. See, I'm still on West Coast time. We were out there for the RA with 5,000 of our closest friends.
Jeff Ney:
And from what I understand, the area out there is quite beautiful, even though all we saw was the inside of a convention center for about a week.
Rachael West:
We did get occasionally to go out to dinner on that lovely riverfront in Vancouver, however.
Jeff Ney:
That was very nice. And actually we weren't even in Oregon. We were in Washington. We were right across the river.
Aaron Chapin:
That's where we stayed. But it was a great week away. We had a lot of great times with our colleagues from Pennsylvania. It was a great week, but we're back here in Pennsylvania to the humidity to do the work of the people.
Jeff Ney:
But I'll tell you what, that event was even more spectacular.
Aaron Chapin:
I'd like to talk about the humidity here in Pennsylvania.
Jeff Ney:
We could talk later.
Aaron Chapin:
Let's talk about something better.
Jeff Ney:
Anything would be better than talking about the humidity.
Aaron Chapin:
Like today's guest. She's better than Pennsylvania humidity.
Jeff Ney:
Speaking of the representative assembly.
Aaron Chapin:
You got it. She is no stranger here to Duty Free Lunch.
Jeff Ney:
That's correct.
Aaron Chapin:
And we got to see her out in Portland, Oregon for a hot second. She, as you all know, is Pennsylvania's 2024 teacher of the year. We had her on, gosh, a year and a half ago. She was one of our first guests.
Jeff Ney:
Yeah.
Aaron Chapin:
Were you one of our first guests?
Ashlie Crosson:
I was.
Aaron Chapin:
She's nodding yes. But now she's a really big deal. The biggest deal there is in the nation because she's the 2025 national teacher of the year. We can't wait to hear all about how her life has changed because she is such a big deal. She's got a lot of experience and wisdom to pass on to us and we saw her at the RA. She addressed all 5,000 plus people that were there and it was one of the best speeches I've ever heard from a national teacher of the year. And I don't even say it because I like Ashlie.
Jeff Ney:
I was hanging on every word.
Aaron Chapin:
I thought it was one of the best speeches. We've hinted long enough. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, colleagues, it's Ashlie Crosson. Hello Ashlie. How are you Ashlie?
Ashlie Crosson:
I'm good, thanks.
Aaron Chapin:
You like that? That was a long intro.
Ashlie Crosson:
That was the longest intro I've ever had.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, that's because we're the best podcast there is next to Ohio.
Jeff Ney:
Oh, my goodness, those people.
Aaron Chapin:
All right, let's get to business. You're feeling good though?
Ashlie Crosson:
Yep.
Aaron Chapin:
And you were out there on West Coast time, you were out there for a hot second, came back-
Ashlie Crosson:
I was there for a minute.
Aaron Chapin:
There wasn't much adjusting?
Ashlie Crosson:
Not enough time to adjust.
Aaron Chapin:
All right. Well, so as I mentioned everybody, you were named national teacher, you're Pennsylvania's first ever national teacher.
Ashlie Crosson:
That's me.
Aaron Chapin:
You're the first. You've had a chance since being teacher of the year, you got named back in the spring. You've spoken with educators, policymakers across the country. What's something you've learned about American education that maybe surprised you or challenged your assumptions?
Ashlie Crosson:
You guys probably know this better than I do because you spend so much time through NEA and with other states.
Aaron Chapin:
It's because we're super smart. Some of us here.
Ashlie Crosson:
Obviously. Obviously. That goes unsaid. But in talking to all of the state teachers of the year from across our country, I didn't necessarily realize just how different education really does look state to state. And when you get to have those conversations and you get new ideas and you get new ways of doing things, it gets you pretty excited. You come back to the classroom really energized.
Jeff Ney:
You're 100% right. Every time we get to talk to those colleagues from across the country, we pick up something. Aaron referenced, we've had you on the podcast before. One of the things that we talked about was your sense of community, journalism that you teach, empowering students, especially in the rural areas like where you are in Mifflin County. What has your time on the national stage during this extremely tumultuous time in America taught you about the importance of those topics and how you want to approach them as a teacher leader now?
Ashlie Crosson:
It's interesting trying to stay connected to your local school and to your local community while then also jumping up onto this state and then national stage. But I think I keep finding that the more I return to my home and to my roots and to the people I know and to the stories I know that's where I get the most joy in advocating for education. That's obviously where I have the most actual expertise when I about my classroom and what goes on in my community. And so having the chance to do that and then return to that space and for my students to see you can come from a small town and do big things is really important to me. I didn't set out to get this title, but in having it, that's one of the most important parts for me that my community has the chance to say, we're so proud and this is a big honor for all of us.
Jeff Ney:
Your speech at the RA really hit home to a lot of people that I've talked to, especially with your rural connection, three to one cows versus people in your area, what was it, seven to one chickens or something along those lines.
Ashlie Crosson:
They outnumber humans by three as well. Cows to kids and chickens to humans.
Jeff Ney:
Yep.
Rachael West:
I laugh because I grew up in a very similar area and also my dad has moved to a place that's even the ratio is higher of cows to people. One of the things you said in your speech, and we all talked about how that was such an incredible speech and one of the best national educator speeches I've heard over the years of going to the RA. Something you mentioned was that self-sacrificing and for a long time teachers have worn exhaustion as a badge, and you mentioned that you in particular have worn exhaustion as a badge of honor. And I think a lot of us relate to that, so what is your advice to teachers who are still wearing that as the badge and feel guilty taking time for themselves?
Ashlie Crosson:
I think that I learned the value of it when I realized if I didn't do that, then what example was I setting for my students? We talk so much with our students now about social emotional learning and about your mindset, and we spend a lot of time trying to help students become a more well-rounded person who can handle balance, who can handle stress, anxiety, trauma, like all of these things. And I'm like, well, then you have to practice what you preach. And so when I looked at it that way, I realized that taking care of myself is part of my professionalism, not just in my classroom or with my colleagues to make me a better professional, but it's also what makes me a better teacher for my kids.
Aaron Chapin:
Two decades ago we didn't talk about that kind of stuff.
Ashlie Crosson:
No.
Aaron Chapin:
No. I've got three golden apples that are sitting in my basement because I had perfect attendance three years in a row.
Ashlie Crosson:
Good job, sort of.
Aaron Chapin:
But what did that do?
Jeff Ney:
At what cost?
Aaron Chapin:
I know exactly what cost. I was burned out by the mid-thirties and you're no good to your kids. Again, Jeff referenced the rural schools part of your speech, which I agree, it really hit home. There was a lot of... I watch people from other states that are sitting near us and they were like, "Wow. Absolutely." But you talk about how rural schools, they get left out of the education conversation, which is mind-boggling since most of our nation is rural schools. What's your approach to making sure that their needs and strengths are being heard in DC and beyond?
Ashlie Crosson:
I think the biggest thing, and we had this conversation with some of our Pennsylvania lawmakers when they came to see us in Mifflin County, is that we have to eliminate this narrative that pits rural students against urban students. This idea that there's a haves or a haves not or they get money and you don't get money because that's not the case. I come from an underfunded district. Urban students are often from underfunded districts. And my students look at that and say, "Well, wait a minute, I don't look like them. I don't live like them." But we face the same challenges and we have the same lawmakers making decisions for us about our education. And they're using our kids in that rural versus urban narrative as a piece of rhetoric and eliminating that and realizing, no, we're really trying to push forward for all students in Pennsylvania, for all students across the country, I think is the biggest part to getting their voices heard.
Jeff Ney:
As Pennsylvania's teacher of the year, you got to travel the state quite a bit, and now as the national teacher of the year, they must have you all over the place in the country.
Ashlie Crosson:
A couple of places.
Jeff Ney:
A couple of places. The conversations that you're having with people all across the country, are you finding any similarities, a common theme or maybe consistent worries that other educators are having all across the country? Can you-
Ashlie Crosson:
AI.
Jeff Ney:
Is it?
Ashlie Crosson:
Yeah. We have continued concerns I think in terms of what legislation is coming about and fundings and things like that. But in terms of classroom instruction, the thing that all of us are like, what are we going to do about blank is AI. And I think it is a paradigm shift in education. It's going to take us looking at our profession and saying, teachers are still important, our schools are still important, but we have to fundamentally shift what kind of skills we're building in our classroom. And those conversations I think are really exciting, we just need to make sure that we're having the time to have them and facilitate them and get the people in the room who can come up with ideas, make decisions, try things out, and then that gets a little... Once school starts, you're just in the thick of it every day. And so some of those big idea conversations really need to happen over the summer.
Jeff Ney:
Oh, that's good. They're trying to get a handle on it rather than trying to put it into a closet.
Ashlie Crosson:
Oh, yeah. I think we've... No, Pandora's box is very open.
Rachael West:
Even in PSEA, we have an AI task force. We have a group of educators that are sitting down together with also PSEA staff to talk about what does this look like in our classroom and how can we as an association be helpful in helping our teachers have that information? It's interesting to know that that's happening across the country and not just at PSEA.
Ashlie Crosson:
Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
Rachael West:
And so that's one thing that's happening across the country. But we also, you are looking at global education. You have pulled global education into your local and what you're doing, so what advice would you have for teachers who want to bring that global citizenship and things like that into their classrooms, but they're stressed because they're statewide testing and there's limited resources? How do you think they can... What advice could you give them to work around that?
Ashlie Crosson:
For me, I come from a lucky sort of perspective in that we revamped our English curriculum, and so our students take a half of a year of their standard English 9, English 10, and then the other half they take a genre based elective and together that's how they get their full credit of English and so-
Aaron Chapin:
Great idea.
Ashlie Crosson:
... it helps. And actually our science department does the same thing now because now students are taking things that are high interest to them, which is upping their engagement, which then makes them less likely to lean on things like AI unintentionally or improperly. But then it also means that we don't have to find more room in our schedule for electives. The electives are the education. And the thing is, especially in English, but in a lot of our standards, my standards are skills-based more than content based, so if I want to use a documentary, if I want to use an investigative piece from the New York Times or what have you, that pulls in some global conversations, I can still align those to standards. I have quite a bit of autonomy luckily that says, if you're going to choose texts that are appropriate to your classroom and we're going to let you do that. And that has given me a huge amount of freedom and opportunity to bring these things into our classroom.
Jeff Ney:
And speaking of your own personal classroom, last time we talked you were very, very excited that you were reviving your journalism at your school and the students really have taken off doing those projects. Has that course and the way that the students are part of that, do you see them using the skills that you're teaching them to advocate for public education?
Ashlie Crosson:
I think for us, our journalism program is really the opportunity for students to tell their school story. If you don't have a student journalism program, you don't have a student news generated system, then ultimately the story of your community isn't being told by the story holders. And so I think that's really important that we maintain that. Our students in terms of their advocacy and things like that with their education, they show up at the board meeting. You see them honing their voices through their journalism class, through their media class, through their social studies classes where they're getting those skills to figure out, this is what I believe in, this is what I think is important, this is why this is essential for my community. And then to see them turn around and speak extemporaneously at a board meeting like we did a few weeks ago, I couldn't be more proud. They take that and they put it to work in the spaces where decisions are made.
Aaron Chapin:
You're out there, you're telling the stories of educators, you're telling the stories of our school, so if there's a student out there listening right now, what are you going to tell them about the day-to-day life of being a teacher? And it's straight talk with Ashlie, so what are you telling them?
Jeff Ney:
That could be its own podcast.
Aaron Chapin:
It could be.
Ashlie Crosson:
I think that it's the same thing that I tell teachers, I think. It is easy to get frustrated in this job and kids aren't immune to the headlines or to the rhetoric about teaching. They know the cons or whatever I think as well. And they hear them from headlines. Sometimes they hear them from teachers, which is the most heartbreaking thing to me. But you go into a school every day and you have a conversation with a kid and you leave happier than you were at the beginning, every single day. The best part about education are kids. And so when you talk to a future educator or you talk to somebody who's like, well, maybe this is something I want to do, you look around and say, how much joy did you get from interacting with your peers? That's what you get to do every day. And you get to do that in a way that can genuinely impact somebody's life for the rest of their life. And there's something innate and intrinsic about that. But then there's also just something that's beyond rewarding. Not many professions get to have that kind of joy.
Rachael West:
Absolutely. We've talked a lot in this room about the educator shortage, and I think you touched on some of that with the headlines and maybe sometimes teachers themselves. What do you think we can be doing to retain our teachers and to recruit more that are willing to see that joy that you just discussed, that passion that you have for having those conversations and leaving happier because you worked with children today?
Ashlie Crosson:
In Pennsylvania I feel like we're doing the right things in terms of recruitment. I think that we've realized over the past few years, this is something that we really need to get involved with and push forward. And PSEA has been a huge part of advocating for that. And now my question is like, okay, so we're fixing the pipeline bit by bit. We still have more work to do in terms of the diversity of that pipeline, but at least it's growing. But my next concern is, okay, well what are we going to do to then retain them? Because we know that people come into the profession and an inordinate percentage leave in the first five, six years or so. And so for me, I look at what made me successful or what made me make it through the burnout stage, make it through that hump into this is now my career.
And it was having good coaching and mentoring, to have designated people, not people who are teaching their own schedule all day long and then suddenly have an hour to give you after school but people whose their actual job is to go into your classroom and help you with your classroom management, your lesson planning, they're co-teach something with you, they're going to look at your data for you. All of these things that you don't have time to do because you're just trying to teach all day. And to have that person not be an administrator, to have no oversight on your evaluation, somebody that you can go to with your guard down to say, I need to get better is what helped me make it over that hump because I had a support system that was meant to make me more confident not to question what I was doing.
I gained confidence through asking questions, but I knew at the baseline that person was trying to help me feel better about myself and better about my professionalism. That's where I want to... If we're looking long term like, okay, we're fixing our recruitment, then the next thing says, okay, well how do we retain them? We have to invest in that professional development, especially for young educators.
Aaron Chapin:
Jeff has been chairing our new member task force and it's something that has come up in conversation a number of times, what are we doing to keep them? Once you get them, you got to keep them.
Ashlie Crosson:
Well, and it changes morale in schools too. When you have those structures in place, then that makes it so that you have better lines of communication, you have better resources, you have better support. And when you improve morale in schools, then that impacts localized retention as well. People aren't jumping ship to make another $2,000 next door.
Jeff Ney:
Because we're seeing this next generation of educators, they're looking at those districts just that way. They're comparing contracts and say, wait a minute, I can get better healthcare over here for my family. Oh, wait a minute, my salary is going to go better. I thank you very much for complimenting but PSEA has been working and this team is very much advocating to make sure that pipeline keeps going.
Aaron Chapin:
Ashlie, you got one year as national teacher of the year, it's going to go by fast.
Ashlie Crosson:
It is.
Aaron Chapin:
And you've only been on the job, what, two months now, that?
Ashlie Crosson:
Technically it starts July one, so about 15 days.
Aaron Chapin:
You are on the clock-
Ashlie Crosson:
Wow, that's very timely.
Aaron Chapin:
... so what's one initiative, what's a passion project or a message that you were super excited to be able to do as national teacher of the year?
Ashlie Crosson:
I get this question all the time.
Aaron Chapin:
What's your big thing? Hey, we get asked the same question as officers, what do we want to do? What do you want to do?
Ashlie Crosson:
For me in terms of our students in our classroom, it's global education. I want to see, how do we look at American education and say the intent of American education is to form a better citizenry. That is why public education was founded in the first place, why it was written into our founding documents. And so if that's the case and now we recognize that the borders between places and the way that our country communicates and collaborates and leads with others is integral to the success of the country, then how is global citizenship a baseline instead of an extra gold star? How do we make it the baseline? If I get to pick the one thing I want to nerd out about.
Aaron Chapin:
That's a worthy thing nerd out about me. Excellent. Well, I hope you get to pull that off over your 12 months. It's not going to be busy. You're going to be so busy. Do you have any idea just what's in store for you right now?
Ashlie Crosson:
The national teacher of the year, you're told when you're going through interviews and things, you can anticipate 150 engagements in the year.
Jeff Ney:
Wow, 150. Jeebers. I thought our schedules were bad.
Ashlie Crosson:
Duty Free Lunch, check, engagement.
Aaron Chapin:
It's going to be a lot of mileage points.
Ashlie Crosson:
Well, something like that.
Aaron Chapin:
Something like that. All right. Hey Jeff.
Jeff Ney:
Hey Aaron.
Aaron Chapin:
Pop quiz.
Jeff Ney:
Fantastic. You spoke at the representative assembly, you had close to 6,000 of fellow educators, pretty friendly room.
Ashlie Crosson:
Yes.
Jeff Ney:
What if I put you in front of Congress for five minutes and you are going to try to convince them to change one thing about public education, what's that one thing that you're going to spend your five minutes talking to these legislators to convince them to change?
Ashlie Crosson:
I think it goes back to the recruitment and the retention. I look at the longevity of things and we need to uplift education back into that revered profession because without it nothing else exists. You need that K to 12 into higher education to build our inventors, our lawyers, our construction workers, our everything. And so I think that's it, for me, we have to make sure that education in America remains a revered thing and that means revering the professionals who are doing it.
Jeff Ney:
We've always said, education, we're the ones that make every other profession possible.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, those are for our time today.
Jeff Ney:
Really?
Aaron Chapin:
I know.
Jeff Ney:
We just got started.
Aaron Chapin:
It's too bad but Ashlie's time is very precious.
Jeff Ney:
She's got to get back on the road.
Aaron Chapin:
She does.
Ashlie Crosson:
It's actually true.
Aaron Chapin:
She came in just for this today, so we are very appreciative. Our guest today has been the 2025 national teacher of the year, Ashlie Crosson.
Ashlie Crosson:
Thanks guys.
Aaron Chapin:
Ashlie, thank you for joining us for a second time. You might be the only member that's attended twice.
Jeff Ney:
Wow.
Aaron Chapin:
Guested twice.
Jeff Ney:
I don't know. We've had a lot of podcasts.
Ashlie Crosson:
I'm very competitive.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, you are very worthy of being here a second time. We really appreciate it. We can't wait to watch you as you travel the country and represent all of the Pennsylvania educators so well. But even more all those educators across the country, so thank you for being here.
Ashlie Crosson:
I'm very appreciative for PSEA support. They make it a lot more comfortable.
Aaron Chapin:
Well, if you ever need to come back and feel a little more comfortable, come on back because I'm sure we can squeeze you in over the next 11 months and three weeks.
Ashlie Crosson:
Oh, thank you.
Aaron Chapin:
We're just counting it down. Hey, and thanks to all our listeners for tuning in yet again. You got some feedback for us? Maybe you want to talk to Ashlie, you got to email us at-
Jeff Ney:
We can connect her.
Aaron Chapin:
Whoa. Absolutely. We'll even provide the cell number. Yes, perfect.
Ashlie Crosson:
About that.
Aaron Chapin:
Hey, you got an email at podcast@psea.org. I'm Aaron Chapin.
Jeff Ney:
And I'm Jeff Ney.
Rachael West:
And I'm Rachael West.
Aaron Chapin:
And you have been listening to Duty Free Lunch. Bye for now.
Voiceover:
You've been listening to Duty Free Lunch with the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Visit psea.org/podcast to learn more and don't forget to subscribe and share. Paid for by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.