Fairfax resident Gillian Ramsey will compete for the title of Miss Virginia in Roanoke this month. Ramsey, a junior at Shenandoah University studying dance education, will compete against 26 other women from the state. The winner will then go on to compete for Miss America in Atlantic City in September. Daughter of Gene and Leisa Ramsey, she is this week's People Profile.
Number of Years in the Fairfax Community. 18 years
Family. Parents Gene and Leisa Ramsey
Education: Accotink Academy Preschool, Orange Hunt Elementary School, Washington Irving Middle School, West Springfield High School (graduated in 2002), Shenandoah University, majoring in dance education and musical theater.
Current job/primary occupation? Dance teacher for ages 3- 18 in Winchester. I have more than 100 students; Summer Regional Governors School Instructor in dance; choreographer for "The Music Man," at Bishop O'Connell High School in 2005, "Bye Bye Birdie," at Seton School in 2005 and Hedgesville High School Show Choir; assistant choreographer for Shenandoah Summer Musical Theatre.
Achievements:
* I have spoken to numerous local and state elected officials about the importance of funding the arts in Virginia Public Schools. I have created and performed several 45-minute assemblies at elementary schools, which integrate the arts and SOL standards. In addition, I have spoken with teachers and principals about how they can use the arts as a teaching tool in their classrooms on an everyday basis. I plan to continue this on the state level and speak with the statewide PTA and School Board about the importance of the arts in a Students public school education.
* Robyn Hart Schroth Dance Education Scholarship
* Shenandoah Conservatory talent Scholarship-Acting
* 2001 Cappies Award Nominations — Choreography ( West Springfield High School for "Hello Dolly!" and Critics team
* 2002 Cappies Award Winner — Choreography
* Throughout high school, I was fortunate to travel with my school's show choir — West Springfield High School Personality Show Choir — and perform all over the East Coast including Carnegie Hall, Disney World, Pageant of Peace in D.C., Children's Hospital and Eddies Club.
Activities/interests/hobbies: Dancing, singing and musical theater of course! Traveling into D.C. and showing out-of-towners my favorite sites of the area. My favorite is the FDR memorial. I love to go to the beach, scrapbook and have recently taken up knitting with my mom and grandmother.
What are your community concerns? What are some ideas you have on ways to improve your community? The arts were such an important part of my youth that it is disappointing to see them slowly being filtered out of the public school curriculum. There have been countless studies demonstrating the relationship between the arts and higher scores in standardized tests, as well as excelling in other areas of development I feel that all teachers can use the arts in their classroom as a form of teaching. A common misconception is that arts education is merely a music class once a week, or a drama class to fulfill a graduation requirement, but in actuality the arts are a wonderful way to cross curriculum and teach in a non traditional sense.
What community "hidden treasure" do you think more people should know about? I feel that Fairfax County has a wonderful outdoor recreation program, there are always wonderful outdoor concerts in the summer, fun things going on like the cardboard boat races at Lake Accotink, places to play Frisbee golf, or just take a peaceful walk in an area known for chaos most of the time.
Who has inspired you most in life? I have had so many influential people in my life thus far. Of course my parents — my original "producers" for carting me all over Northern Virginia growing up to dance class, singing lessons, acting workshops or endless rehearsals. They always supported me no matter what my goal was, or how outlandish it may have seemed at the time. Mary Jo Levesque and Mike Replogle, my theater teachers in high school for letting me try my hand at choreographing and trusting me and my crazy ideas. Without their support and the opportunities they gave me, I wouldn't have found my true love of helping to create magic on the high school theater stage. And all of my dance teachers I have had, especially Shirley Bennett who encouraged me and saw potential when I was close to quitting.
Personal goals: In addition to winning Miss Virginia and hopefully performing on Broadway, I would eventually like to open a non-profit performing arts school in Northern Virginia, where students would have the opportunity to study all areas of the arts. I would love to see the Fairfax Arts Academy, based in Fairfax High School, be expanded to an entire magnet school, similar to the Governors School for the Arts in the Virginia Beach area.
Know of someone who should be recognized for his or her accomplishments or contributions to the community? Send People Profile nominations to Nina M. Dry at fairfax@connectionnewspapers.com or call 703-917-6422.