A Call I Couldn’t Ignore
It started with a dream. A vision. A belief in the humanity of our children.
I never intended to be a teacher, but I responded to a call. It was a call to the classroom and to teaching, but it was greater than that - a call to invest in our youth, especially youth that were overlooked. Over time, that call transformed into a call to leadership. With the support of my community, I started a non-profit that invested in our youth in a different way. Today, that call is transformed again. A call I can’t ignore. A call to invest in our youth through transforming district-wide policy. A call to run for Durham School Board.
This call has sprouted from the same dream some years ago, just a different way to implement it. My decision to run is the pursuit of a vision that our schools can meet the needs of all students, especially children of color, neurodiverse youth, and students that belong to the LGBTQIA+ community. This campaign is built on the belief that every student, with no exceptions, has inherent dignity, and our schools can (and should!) help them find joy in learning, discovery, and personal growth.
Finding Joy
Joy is a gifted educator and teaching and performing artist with 20+ years of experience working with youth, which includes 13 years of classroom experience as a K-12 public school music teacher. Joy began working with the Durham-based non-profit organization BUMP: The Triangle in 2012 while she was still a full-time elementary music teacher in Chapel Hill and Musical director of Durham Regional Theater. In 2019, she became BUMP’s first Executive Director after the founder and the Visionary Conductor of BUMP’s national award-winning programming. BUMP builds artistic proficiencies, cultural literacy, and resilience in youth by resourcing the cultural assets of African diasporic visual and performing arts for healing, social-emotional wellness, liberation, and joy.
Joy was born and raised in Asheville, NC and has fond childhood memories of trips to visit family in Durham, NC where her father was born. Joy is also a proud alumna of North Carolina Central University where she received her bachelor’s degree in music. She also has a master’s degree in music from the University of Northern Iowa, a certification in musical theater from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and is a certified teacher in K-12 music education.
Joy and her husband Malcolm Goff, a recently retired teacher with 26 years of service to Durham Public School, together have served thousands of Durham Public School’s youth inside and outside of our school buildings. Four of their own children have graduated from Durham Public Schools and their youngest two are currently elementary school students in the system.