Shenandoah County teacher Emily Collins ’25 earned an online master’s in education from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, balancing K–12 teaching in the Shenandoah Valley with family life in Harrisonburg.
Between the hum of a first-grade classroom in rural Virginia and the quiet, late-night glow of a laptop, Emily Collins ’25 found her rhythm.
That rhythm became momentum. In December 2025, she completed a master’s in elementary education with a math specialist concentration, a program focused on strengthening mathematics instruction and concepts for educators, from Old Dominion University. During her program, she taught full-time, planned a wedding and welcomed a daughter, Elaine.
“Flexibility wasn’t a buzzword,” Collins said. “It was a necessity.”
The test came early. As she started the program in late 2023 and planned her wedding, Collins learned she was expecting. She pushed through two courses each semester until Elaine was born on Sept. 3, 2024.
After a short maternity leave and a semester off from graduate study, Collins returned to her classroom and resumed coursework in early 2025.
Her husband, Austin, is a firefighter in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with 24-hour shifts that often leave Collins solo at home. The juggling act required careful planning. “Time management, dedication and support,” she said. “But it wouldn't have been possible without the support of family and their willingness to help. My husband was always there to help when he was home, feeding her a bottle while I was on the computer. That’s what it took.”
Teaching first graders means short planning windows and long to-do lists. “I don’t have a 90-minute planning block every day. I’m lucky to get 30,” she said.
The program’s pace demanded discipline, but the cadence became familiar: teach all day, put the baby down, then write, post and prep. When she eventually dropped to one course, she laughed that it felt strange to have time left over.
Teaching hasn’t felt like a job for Collins; it is a family legacy.
Now a teacher in Shenandoah County Public Schools, she works just miles from where she and Austin attended elementary school. Her roots run deep: her maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather studied in the same district, and her great-grandmother taught there.
“It’s our community, our home,” Collins said. “I work with people I went to school with. I teach students whose families I know. It’s so familiar.”
Family ties also pulled her toward math. Many colleagues pursued reading, she joked, so she chose a different path. Her father earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Hampden-Sydney, and his inclination for numbers rubbed off on her.
Collins compared programs before choosing Old Dominion University for its “comprehensive design,” which, she said, homed in on all five concepts of math. While some colleagues drove more than an hour for evening classes, she logged in from her kitchen table after work, an approach reinforced by the pandemic. “COVID opened the door,” she said. “No matter where you are, you can work on it and achieve it.”
The structure paid off in real time. She tested strategies with first graders, brought classroom evidence back to the next module and refined it with professors and peers. “It was applicable,” Collins said. “I could implement what I was learning right away.”
The degree is a credential, she said, but also a commitment to help young learners build early math skills. Collins hopes to serve as a math specialist at the school or division level, supporting teachers and students with strategies that stick.
“I want every child to feel confident in math early,” Collins said. “This program gave me the tools to make that real.”
Read more about the mathematics specialist program for elementary education.
