EDWARDSVILLE - Emily Rayburn is Lincoln Principal Jen Morgan’s secretary. But she’s also a former dancer, a dance company board president, and a sign language student.
Rayburn has only been with Edwardsville School District #7 a short time, starting at Liberty in August 2020 as the attendance secretary before moving to Lincoln in late May 2021, but she’s made an impact on those who have worked with her and vice versa.
“Lincoln is a wonderful school with amazing staff members. There is a lot of kindness, humor, sass and hard work ethic in our building.”
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The Edwardsville native began dancing when she was six years old at a local studio in town. Rayburn earned a B.F.A. in dance performance and choreography from Western Michigan and then moved to Chicago to begin her dance career.
“I did freelance work for a while and then started my own 501(c)3 non-profit dance company called Hot Crowd in November 2017, which is a modern/contemporary dance company that performs throughout the Midwest.”
The company luckily survived COVID and is back to creating new work and performing. However, with Rayburn’s move back to Southern Illinois, she stepped down from her role as artistic director but is currently serving as President of the Board in a more advisory role.
When she isn’t busy at Lincoln or assisting the dance company, Rayburn is also studying to become a Sign Language Interpreter through night classes at SWIC’s Interpreter Training Program.
“I hope to become a certified interpreter in the state of Illinois and Missouri, and ultimately have dreams of starting a dance program that specifically caters towards the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.”
Rayburn has certainly given new meaning to the term ‘time management’.
“It’s tough to balance – and at times, I’m not always successful. I just try to compartmentalize my work throughout each day, and I really utilize my weekends for homework, practicum hours, and personal catch-up time. It helps to know that this chaos is not forever. I have goals to meet and looking to the future is always comforting!"
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