I wasn't a ballet baby. My first dance class was in an outdoor pavilion when I was three. It was called 'creative movement.' The teacher gave us chiffon scarves in beautiful colors. She turned on some music and said 'Now go dance.' So for me dance has always been about self-expression.

My first acting job happened by accident when I was really young. I was in fifth grade and my teacher saw an ad in the paper and took me to the audition after school and I got the part.

My first career was as a coach and a teacher.

I feel so very grateful to have the voice God gave me. It takes a lot of rest and training to sing and I was lucky that I found a great teacher when I first moved to New York.

I'd never been a teacher before and here I was starting my first day with these eager students. There was a shortage of teachers and they had been without a math teacher for six months. They were so excited to learn math.

When I had my first voice lesson I was 15 years old. And I had a really good teacher. This is what made all the difference. A good teacher will teach you the technique but also how to listen to your voice.

I think there are so many ways to become interested in music. I believe signs of sustained interest gives a sense of the right time. Music if thought of as a language would perhaps indicate that as early as possible is not so bad. I do believe that a really nurturing first teacher that makes the child love something is crucial.

There are ways we can go do a better job of educating young moms and dads about the vital role they have as the child's first teacher. I think there are ways in which we can partner with local school districts and states to do a better job to provide nutrition options at school.

I can remember exactly where I sat when my teacher first read Roald Dahl's 'James and the Giant Peach'.

I think it goes back to my high school days. In computer class the first assignment was to write a program to print the first 100 Fibonacci numbers. Instead I wrote a program that would steal passwords of students. My teacher gave me an A.