Kentucky Teacher Welcomes Back Students to Dolly Parton-Inspired Classroom

I'm hopeful this year our third graders will lead with love like Dolly, and dream big like Loretta.- Erinn Williams, West Louisville Elementary School.

Erinn Williams grew up in eastern Kentucky and is bringing a taste of the mountains to her classroom in Daviess County this year. Erinn was raised on the music of Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton and she has decided to welcome this year's crop of third graders to a classroom that celebrates the legacies of both women.

As you saw in the quote up top- Erinn hopes to inspire her students to dream big like Loretta and lead with love like Dolly.

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Erinn teaches reading and there's no doubting Dolly Parton's commitment to literacy around the world. The country icon's Imagination Library has provided millions upon millions of free books to kids 0 to 5-years-old through the United States, England, Ireland and Australia. And that program continues to expand its reach throughout the world. Erinn is on the same mission- just on a smaller, more personal scale.

So, as she was preparing her classroom for the start of the new academic year, Erinn decided to pay tribute to Dolly and her legacy of literacy and kindness. Mrs. Williams' classroom is a Dolly extravaganza- complete with images of Dolly, explosions of color, motivational quotes and hints of the singer's enduring spirit of positivity and change.

Classes here in the Daviess County School System resume on Wednesday, August 9th. When Mrs. Williams' students roll into class, they're going to be welcomed by their teacher's love for two country music greats.

While Dolly hails from the mountains of Tennessee, Loretta Lynn hails from Erinn's neck of the woods. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, Loretta's dreams took her Nashville, where she became a legend of country music. Dolly's story is incredibly similar. Dolly was born in the mountains of eastern Tennessee and, like Loretta, rode down out of those mountains on the back of a dream to become one of the most recognizable and influential voices in all of music.

Those stories are inspiring Erinn Williams to teach her students that they too have the power to move mountains.

Mrs. Williams has included a variety of inspirational quotes to encourage her students to believe in themselves and tackle challenges with determination and commitment. Here's a look!

There are endless visual reminders in the classroom to encourage students to shoot for the proverbial stars and be anything they want to be.

Of course, the biggest question of all posed in Mrs. Williams' classroom is the first one you saw up top. What would Dolly do?

That answer's pretty simple. She would inspire classrooms and all of the people in them- the teachers and their students.