Dr. Roshone Ault Lee (NY ‘99) attended Syracuse University in undergrad to study television, radio, film, and American Studies with plans to become an entertainment lawyer who worked with kids and families. When Teach For America entered the picture, she had already been accepted into several law schools.

“When I got into TFA, I was also holding law school offers. Imagine telling my parents I wasn’t going yet. I’d take two years to teach instead,” she recalls. It may have seemed sudden, but teaching had been part of her all along. As VP of United Youth Enterprises in her teens, she led student retreats to D.C. while her mentor, now a federal judge, encouraged her to go into law. She followed a different calling. “I applied to TFA because I always loved teaching. My mom was a teacher and retired as a principal, so I grew up seeing her in those roles. I joke now that I still ended up working with child actors. My students made me laugh every day.”

By following her instincts instead of convention, Dr. Lee found her purpose: to live authentically, trust her instincts, and help others feel seen enough to do the same.

Start With Respect

Stepping into her classroom as a 1999 New York corps member, Dr. Lee quickly saw that the environment mattered as much as academics. Her mother’s example set the tone. “Most of what I learned from my mom was about being firm. Her classroom management was on point. It was about being consistent and firm.”

While planning lessons each Sunday, she began to see what her own teachers had modeled—authentic care, intention, and the belief that every student’s humanity should shape the classroom. “I felt so much respect for teachers. I wanted to call every teacher from my childhood and thank them.” That realization pushed her to create experiences that helped her get to know her students better. “Their humanity, their experiences. That shaped everything.”

Former student Deja Senghor, now a 2022 Teach For America alum, recalls the difference Dr. Lee made. In Word In Black, she wrote: “Before I ever imagined becoming a teacher, I was a student in Dr. Roshone Ault Lee’s classroom. She saw her students. She saw me.” That environment, she added, “was a space where we felt affirmed and pushed to grow. If even one of my students walks away feeling inspired the way I once did in Dr. Lee’s class, I know I’m continuing the work she modeled for me.”

Get Creative

Dr. Lee taught by example, blending her own creativity and authenticity to build a classroom, circling back to her love of entertainment. “I taught a project-based class where we did film analysis. I used the Cooley High funeral scene with different upbeat and melancholy soundtracks. The students compared the moods and how music shaped meaning. They loved it! They asked me to teach it multiple times.”

One student’s mom even called to laugh, and complain, that her son wouldn’t stop analyzing movies. “I’ll never forget Michael Anderson. His mom asked me, ‘Can you stop teaching Michael that? He sits in the theater analyzing everything.’ That’s the kind of impact I wanted.”

Music shaped her classroom too. When students got loud, she pressed play on DMX’s “Y’all Gonna Make Me Lose My Mind.” “That broke the tension and created this energy of, ‘Oh my gosh, my teacher is dope.’ It even built credibility with the principal, who leaned on me to bridge relationships with parents.”

Balance Growth and Ambition

When teaching demands grew heavy, Dr. Lee leaned into what grounded her: faith, family, and learning.

“Growing up in church, I always understood I was here for a greater purpose. Luke 12:48 ‘to whom much is given, much is required’ has always stayed with me.”

Her faith gave her purpose, and education became the pathway for living it out. She never stopped studying. While teaching, she earned her master’s in special education, then a doctorate from Columbia University, and later an advanced leadership certificate from Harvard University. Each step sharpened her ability to connect research with practice. “I was continuously learning and seizing opportunities. These different levels of intellectual discourse shaped how I thought and what I brought into my classrooms.” Just five years after joining the Teach For America corps, that same mindset carried her from founding South Bronx Academy for Applied Media in 2004. Now, as the Chancellor’s Master Principal for NYC Public Schools, she supports and mentors fellow principals across the city. Her goal: to help them build thriving school cultures rooted in respect, creativity, and care.

Prioritize Self-Care Early

Even with degrees and faith as anchors, she admits one thing slipped: self-care.

“I poured so much into my students that I ran myself ragged. Looking back, I wish I had prioritized self-care sooner. As you pour into others, you have to remember to pour into yourself.”

Her advice for new teachers: calendar self-care. “Even if it’s just 15 minutes after school to pray, meditate, or jog—make it non-negotiable. Be consistent. Find an accountability partner, maybe someone who isn’t a first-year teacher, to help you stick with it.”​

Anchor Yourself in Authenticity

If she could write a letter to herself on that first day of teaching, her message would be simple:

“I’d say know who you are. You’ll have to navigate students, parents, administrators, and other teachers. Be anchored in who you are so you don’t lose yourself. In those early years, there may be more tears than joy. Center yourself and always return to who you are. Difficult moments and challenges—you’re bigger than those things.”

Dr. Lee’s leadership echoed in the lives of her students long after, especially Deja, who now teaches at South Bronx Academy for Applied Media, the very school Dr. Lee founded in 2005. “It’s more than just a full-circle moment,” Senghor reflected in Word In Black. “It’s a continuation of the legacy she built. Dr. Lee saw my full potential. I strive to pass that same sense of purpose on to my students.”