Ashley Ball

Ashley Grace Ball is the only Family Consumer Science teacher here at Portland High School and she teaches all four grades. From cooking pizza to assigning training infant doll for students to take home and care for, Ball teaches a variety of courses which include Bakers Dozen, Intro to Foods, Culinary 1 and 2, as well as Child Development 1 and 2. 

Ball grew up in Houston, Texas with her parents and younger sister. In July of 2023, Ball moved to Middletown, Conn. shortly after getting married. In January of 2024, Ball started teaching at Portland High School. When she first started college she was not studying education, but rather wanted to work in restaurants or hotel management. However, Ball realized that she didn’t adore the lifestyle of that career being someone with a very close connection to family; as the schedule includes working holidays and weekends often. 

After finishing high school, Ball studied at a university in Nacogdoches,Texas graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in human sciences. Ball said, “When I teach family consumer science courses I’m able to still work with things like food and hospitality, just with a schedule that works better for my life.”

When first going into education, she realized that a subject like Math or English seemed redundant whereas in Family & Consumer Sciences, there’s a lot of variety the course can entail. Ball says that she never really had the desire to teach younger children, however enjoys learning about them and observing their behaviors.

To move from Texas to Connecticut, Ball spent days driving with her car and a Uhaul with all of her belongings. She says the biggest change from Texas to Connecticut was the landscape and how it appears visually. In Texas the land is very flat, whereas in Connecticut there’s more hills, valleys, and the trees take much longer to regenerate their green leaves. She also says that houses look completely different, and not a lot of people have fences here in Connecticut. She says that what she misses the most from Texas is her family, however here in the north she has had the chance to make friends who will become comparable to family. Ball thinks that because she came to Connecticut with no friends or familiarity with the community, the friendships she did form have been very strong ones. 

Moving 2,000 miles away from the only place you’ve called home can be challenging, but it can also be a rewarding and refreshing experience. Ball said that church is a big part of her life and has fostered many new connections for her here, and she is able to stay connected with family through visits, calls, etc. As Ball teaches many crucial and fundamental skills required for adulthood, we should all remember to appreciate this huge change that made her a part of our community.