Director - Cassie Starks

Cassie Starks discovered her love for dance at the age of four. She has trained in multiple genres and danced competitively for several years at Profusion Performing Arts in Atascocita, Texas. Mrs. Starks was also a proud member of the Atascocita High School Patriettes for four years, serving as Junior Lieutenant and Captain her senior year.

After high school, Mrs. Starks was hand-selected to join the Universal Dance Association staff, where she worked with high school dance teams across Texas. In this role, she provided high-quality technical training while also focusing on team motivation and leadership development.

Mrs. Starks earned her Bachelor of Science in Dance Education with a minor in General Business from Stephen F. Austin State University. While at SFA, she was invited to join the Repertory Dance Company, where she received comprehensive training in a wide range of styles and performed in numerous works by guest artists and faculty choreographers.

Mrs. Starks is thrilled to be back at AHS, where she can share her knowledge, experience, and love of dance with students. This is her eleventh year teaching dance and her sixth year in public education. She served as the Patriette Assistant Director for five years and is honored to now lead the team as Head Director.

Assistant Director - Lindsey Surles

Lindsey Surles has been dancing since the age of 3. She is originally from Tyler, Texas, where she took ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, and tap at her dance studio. She was on her high school drill team at Grace Community School and served as Head Dance Captain her senior year. After high school, she went on to be a Kilgore College Rangerette. As a Rangerette, she performed in Italy, England, New York City, and in two Cotton Bowl Classics. Ms. Surles then continued her studies of Dance Education and Kinesiology at the University of Texas at Austin. She performed in several dance concerts during her time there while also working as a studio competition team director. Every Thanksgiving, Ms. Surles works with Spirit of America, which is a company that brings in dancers from across the country to dance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. She has danced in the parade three times with them, inlcluding once with actress/ singer Lea Michele. After graduating from UT, she worked at Weiss High School outside of Austin as the Assistant Drill Team Director. Ms. Surles is brand new to the Houston area and cannot wait to get to know AHS and the dance community! 

Ms. Surles loves building relationships with her students while instilling a life-long passion for dance. She is in her tenth year of teaching and her third year in public education.