For 25 years, Mrs. Dixon has been shaping teenagers’ minds across the country. But, beyond the classroom, her passions have always extended past the textbook. Whether it was skiing in Colorado, running marathons for decades, or now embracing pilates due to her battle with arthritis, she has never stopped embracing life.
Mrs. Dixon has been an English teacher for 25 years. Her career has spanned across the country, ranging from Hartford County Maryland to Lewis Palmer District 38 in Colorado Springs to Spring-Ford Area High School in Pennsylvania and finally North Penn High School and North Bridge in Pennsylvania. Her passion for teaching is exemplified while connecting with students about the books they are reading.
“Once we start reading a book and connecting it to real life, I love the conversations that happen,” Dixon stated.
Although she’s taught in many different places, Dixon had a special love for Colorado, exclaiming that “Colorado was the best.”
In Colorado, Instead of having to go to school a certain amount of days, they have a system called seat time. This system allowed for really long school holidays, which allowed for Mrs. Dixon to go skiing 60 to 70 days a year.
“I guess I was a teacher but really I was an outdoors person when I lived in Colorado,” Dixon said.
Mrs. Dixon goes to visit Colorado every few years but goes up during the summer for hiking because the slopes are too packed in the wintertime.
Along with skiing, running was one of Mrs. Dixon’s life hobbies. However, due to degenerative joint arthritis in the bottom of her right foot, she had to give up running for good.
“It was definitely an adjustment for a couple of months because I was a runner for 25 years of my life – a serious runner,” Dixon added.
Although Mrs. Dixon can no longer run marathons, she was able to find alternate ways of exercise such as using an elliptical and doing mat pilates. She is in year two of using the elliptical and it has proven strong causing her no pain. To get the same benefits as running she has to use the machine for longer periods of time, but she is happy she at least still has a source she can use to exercise. Mrs. Dixon also started doing mat pilates through an app for about an hour a day. Mrs. Dixon is definitely a big supporter of doing mat pilates, adding that it is “simply amazing.”
Mrs. Dixons’ journey, both in the classroom and in her love for movement, shows her dedication to growth, whether by shaping students’ minds or by adapting to find new ways to stay active. Through it all her passion has remained unchanged. From the slopes of Colorado to the pages of a novel, Mrs. Dixon continues to embrace life with the same enthusiasm she has had for decades.
