Special Education
Left to Right: Mrs. Dawson, Mrs. Ferguson, Mrs. Jamerson, Mrs. Creasy, Mrs. Litz, Ms. Laughlin, Ms. Otey, Miss Dobyns
Ms. Ashley Dobyns is a Special Education Teacher for grades K-5! This is her fifth year in education and second year as a Special Education Teacher at RES. Ms. Dobyns graduated with her bachelor’s degree in health sciences from James Madison University and has recently graduated with her master’s degree in education with a concentration in Special Education from Grand Canyon University. She is excited to be a part of the RES team and GO BULLDOGS!
Mrs. Mary Beth Creasy has been a special education teacher for CCPS for 25 wonderful, amazing years. She has loved learning so much from her students and their families with the extra challenges that they face each day. She has loved teaching her students specific strategies that help them remember how to complete their math problems, and spell and decode words. Mrs. Creasy is a member of a very large family whom she loves to spend her time with during breaks. Even though she will sincerely miss her RES home and family, she is going to retire in June of 2025 to devote her time to her husband, grandchildren, and children. She is also planning on learning to play the piano to fulfill a lifelong dream!!
Mrs. Dawson lives in Rustburg with her husband Pete, 1 dog (Bew-Bew), and three horses (Trixie, D’Jango, and Sassie). Both her children (Casey and Clark) have grown-up and now live in Lynchburg making their way through their individual careers. Mrs. Dawson has taught students in elementary special education for the last fourteen years. She received her undergraduate and master’s degree from Lynchburg College (now Lynchburg University). Prior to teaching, Mrs. Dawson worked in the accounting and auditing world for 25 years. During her business career, Mrs. Dawson was able to participate with Big Brothers/Big Sister’s Lunch Program where she met with students during her lunch hour once a week. This experience led Mrs. Dawson to pursue “her degree in special education. Mrs. Dawson believes in the potential and progress of all students and actively uses explicitly taught methods and programs to help students reach their individualized educational goals and personal ambitions. When Mrs. Dawson is not as school, she enjoys riding/camping with horses, kayaking, bush-hogging, reading, or watching medieval themed books or movies, traveling, and getting together with family and friends. As her father often sang “You are my sunshine” to her and her siblings as they were growing up, so too does she sing (or tries to) to her students as they are part of her life and her sunshine.
(aide- Heather Cline)
Toni Ferguson became a bulldog during the 2022-2023 school year and she teaches the highly structured special education classroom. She graduated with her Masters of Education in Adaptive Special Education from the University of Lynchburg in May of 2024. She will graduate with a Behavior Analyst Certificate from Florida Institute of Technology in August of 2024 and will be pursuing requirements to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in the near future. She loves spending time with her husband, daughter, 3 dogs and cat! In her free time, she enjoys working out, playing ice hockey and going on adventures! The 2024-2025 school year is going to be a great year, go bulldogs!!
Kasey Jamerson
Mrs. Jamerson is our speech-language pathologist. While she serves multiple schools in the district, she spends the majority of her time at RES. This is Mrs. Jamerson's 12th year in the school setting. She earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia and her Master's degree from James Madison University. Outside of school, Mrs. Jamerson loves to spend time with her family.
(aide- Rachel Rich)
Christina Laughlin is a Virginia native born and raised in Norfolk. She has been working with children for 30+ years across various grade levels and abilities. She earned a bachelors in Early Childhood Education from Fort Hays State University in Kansas. She is a licensed teacher in PK-6 general curriculum, Special Education General Curriculum K-12. She is excited to be a part of the Rustburg Bulldog Team!
Rachel Litz-ECSE
(aides- Lisa Pennington)
Rachel Litz is in her 4th year at Rustburg Elementary. She loves teaching the littlest Bulldogs in the Early Childhood Special Education classroom. She attended Lynchburg College and played 5 years of softball while in college. Several years later she completed her Master’s of Education in Special Education from the University of Lynchburg with an Endorsement in Early Childhood Special Education. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family at the beach or cheering on her 3 children at the ball field. She is so happy to be a part of the Bulldog Family.
(aide- Kara Nichols)
Ms. Koko Otey is a Special Eudcation teacher of children who are differenlty-abled as a result of Multiple Disabilites along with significant medical and health needs. Ms. Otey has been teaching for at least 30 years and loves her life-purpose career!