Mashea Ashton

Huge gratitude to the Players Coalition and Super Bowl champion Kyle Arrington for announcing a $100,000 grant to help us launch our first football program and honor the lives of Keenan, Antione, and Jakhi. This incredible gift will get us part of the way down the field, but we still need to raise additional funds to kick-off our high school program this fall. Please consider supporting our go GoFundMe campaign.

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I began my career in education as a teacher in southeast DC, I have family that goes back several generations in Wards 7 and 8, and I’m a former college athlete who always appreciated team sports. And yet, I never fully appreciated the profound role football plays in southeast DC and its power to build community until a series of tragic events impacted my school. 

On October 31, 2022, Antione Manning, a 14-year-old DPA student, was tragically killed in front of his home. Antione was a beloved member of the Clock Boyz, a DC youth football program that has won three national championships and is a source of immense pride in the community.  

Less than a month later, Jakhi Snider, a 15-year-old DPA student, was killed on his way to a Thanksgiving football game. He was a member of the Woodland Tigers, a football team that two months later was in Florida competing for a national championship.  

On January 3, 2023 Keenan Anderson, a 10th-grade ELA teacher, died in Los Angeles after being repeatedly tased by an LAPD officer. He was a mentor to many of our scholars and a former college football player who wanted to give back to our youth through football, the way that many had done for him when he was a young man. 

In each case, I observed coaches and players alike showed up to support the families and provide healing to a community in immense pain. The coaches were the mentors, the social workers, the trusted adults that all scholars–especially the ones in grief–turned to in need. 

Our student body has wanted a football team since we founded the school in 2018. In the beginning, that was simply impossible. We did not have the student population or facilities to make that dream a reality. 

And then there are the financial constraints.  

When people think of high school football, they picture the crisp white lines on the field, the shiny helmets, and the last-minute drives that win a game. Few are aware of the cost involved in launching and maintaining a high school football program. 

I run a college-prep school with the mission of building the next generation of innovators. My inclination is to spend DPA’s precious discretionary dollars on additional academic supports, not helmets, pads, uniforms, busing, and coaches for a sports program.

But the more I’ve learned about developing a football program, the more I’ve realized that investing in football IS investing in our students’ academics. For many of our students, athletics provides a sense of belonging that allows them to thrive in school.  

Part of the football team’s practice regimen will include study hall three times a week. Additionally, student athletes will have to maintain a certain GPA. Finally, I am confident our future coaching staff will keep kids on track. How can I be so sure? Because we hired them from Clock Boyz and Woodland Tigers football teams. These coaches have known many of our students since they were little kids.
  
The connection between sports and academic success isn’t speculation. We have data to show that our students involved in after-school activities saw increased grades and attendance and decreased disciplinary issues. Last year we introduced a robust offering of after-school activities in the third quarter. In 9th grade for example, the 9th grade course average in quarter two was 78%. After we introduced sports programming, we saw the 9th grade course average increase in quarter three to 85%. 

Football won’t just benefit the 60 players on the team. A football team will also provide opportunities for our scholars to be on cheer and dance squads, to practice broadcasting, and to serve as equipment managers. 

And as someone whose success in the classroom and on the field earned a college scholarship to William & Mary, I also know that a football program can give some of our scholars access to opportunities they would otherwise not have.  

DPA will always prioritize its core academic mission as a computer science based school, and we see developing a strong football program as aligned–and not in tension–with that goal. 

There’s only one hurdle remaining. We have to raise $250,000 for the coaches, buses to the practice field, equipment, and uniforms. I’m confident we will succeed because if there’s one thing being a student athlete taught me, it’s perseverance. If I set out to do something, it’s going to happen. 

So I’ll see you at our home opener next fall! Go DPA Pythons!!! 

Some teachers don’t pay attention to their school’s health insurance benefits until they get sick, their retirement package until they are preparing to retire, and, in my case, their maternity leave policy until they are pregnant with their first baby.

Fortunately for me, I work at a public charter school that values educators as people and not just employees.

Having worked 11 years in education, I am currently an Assistant Principal at Digital Pioneers Academy. As someone who loves being on her feet, I always assumed I would be one of those active moms when I had a newborn. I anticipated filling my days with mommy and me classes, lunches with other new moms, and browsing my library of parenting books.

Instead, I spent my maternity leave – all 3 months of it – blissfully laying with Chloe on the couch.

And it was glorious.

Two days before Chloe was born, Mashea said “Ok, it’s time for you to go home.” I thought I’d have a week of rest and nesting, but Chloe had other plans. In the delirium that is new motherhood, she is smiley and sweet and (always) alert and awake. I can’t imagine life without her.

While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, we are fortunate to live in a city that provides 8 weeks of paid leave, albeit not at 100% pay. DPA goes well beyond the minimum requirements of federal and city law and offers 12-weeks of fully paid maternity leave.

DPA’s excellent benefits aren’t just words in an employee handbook; they are a promise, a statement of values, and, most importantly, a commitment to support you fully so that you can, in turn, fully support your family and your students.

Do you know how many phone calls I received in the 3 months away from the school?

Zero.

I even occasionally sent emails or texts because after more than a decade of teaching, I couldn’t quite unplug. And no one on the leadership team ever responded. They were communicating something very loud to me in that silence.

“Focus on Chloe.”

“Don’t think about work.”

“We support you.”

When I was ready to return to work after my leave, DPA helped me slowly transition back to the rhythm of school life. Of course, there’s really no such thing as a routine with a four-month-old child. Turns out daycare is filled with caring teachers, curious babies….and lots of germs!

When I get that inevitable “come get your kid because she’s sick” call, I know that my DPA leadership colleagues will pick up my slack.

That’s just the culture here. When a classroom teacher gets that call, the same thing happens.  Someone will cover the class. Sometimes it’s me. The kindness circle comes back around.

It’s important for prospective teachers to look at paid maternity and paternity leave policies at schools. At the very least, all new parents deserve paid leave and a place to pump.

What makes DPA special is the students and culture. But this culture starts at the top. Having a boss that cares about you as a person creates a school that is not only student centered, but one that I want to come back to every day.

As a former Division-1 athlete, I appreciate team sports as a training ground for the essential skills needed to actually succeed in the real world: collaboration, resilience, and a relentless drive to succeed. 

It’s no surprise that we have several former athletes as teachers at DPA.  

Teachers such as Olivia Martino.  

Olivia Martino had an accomplished career as a competitive basketball player at Lafayette College. She still holds the Lafayette College record for the fastest player to score 50 3-pointers in school history. In her freshman year of high school, she made varsity and her team won the national championship. She was invited to play for Team USA.  

But to 6th graders at Digital Pioneers Academy, she is Ms. Martino.  

Olivia honed skills during her collegiate career that are serving her well as a 6th-grade STEM teacher.  

* HARD WORK. One of her many mantras is “productivity above procrastination.” She grew up believing that if you procrastinate, someone will take your spot. You have to outwork everyone to get access to a competitive scholarship or that limited roster spot.  

* DETERMINATION. At one point in her basketball career, Olivia suffered a serious head injury. Her recovery from the concussion required a year of intensive physical therapy. Through grit and perseverance, she regained the ability to play basketball. Just as we tell DPA students to push through difficult challenges, Olivia grew from the experience.  

These are just two examples of why she’s off to a great “rookie” year here at DPA.  

If you look at her biography, it feels like Olivia was destined to work at an innovation-focused school like DPA. She’s the proud product of school choice, having attended public and private schools, including time at a STEM-based charter school in Maryland. She participated in a STEM program at McKinley Tech in DC, where she learned to code and create video games. After college, she got her MBA in innovation management. 

Olivia learned about the opportunity to put her degree to work for young people through her relationship with another elite college athlete.   

After graduating from business school, Olivia ran basketball camps for school-age students. During one of the camps, E’lexus Davis, a former college basketball player who worked at DPA, encouraged her to apply to join the DPA team. Olivia knew she loved math and coaching kids but wasn’t sure about teaching in a school setting. 

Ultimately, what made her take the leap was observing our culture firsthand. I’ll let her describe it in her own words: 

“I chose DPA because of the support. I love how lively and high energy the culture is here. Everyone always wants to do better. The sky’s the limit.”