DOWNEY – Ashley Rauls isn’t just any coach at Downey High School. Having led Downey’s cheerleading program to four CIF Southern Section Division 1 titles and two CIF Regional State titles, she’s the winningest coach in school history.

And after this year, she’s hanging it all up.

This year marked Rauls’, 34, 10th year teaching at Downey High School, ninth running the cheer program. When she initially took the program over, Downey was competing in intermediate divisions.

After winning at that level several times, Rauls says it was time for the team to start pushing themselves.

“I just feel like we have incredibly hard-working kids at this school,” said Rauls. “I have an amazing coaching staff who works very hard. We have a vision for them, and the kids are so self-motivated and driven to just get better, and better, and better, and better.”

The team moved up to the advanced level and found similar success. When CIF recognized cheerleading as an official sport in the 2018-19 season, it became clear just how dominant Downey had become.

“We won Division 1 coed every year except one,” said Rauls.

In addition to leading the Vikings to their fourth CIF Southern Sectional victory this year, Rauls was named CIF Southern Section Division 1 Coach of the Year.

Her success isn’t limited, however, to that of her team. Rauls has proven to be an effective teacher in her classroom as well, teaching US History and serving as co-department head of the social studies department. She was recently named Downey High School Teacher of the Year.

As a kid, Rauls says she “didn’t have a very stable life,” coming from a family that saw lots of moving and separation. As such, it was at school where her “hopes and dreams were being nurtured,” which helped mold her into the educator that she is today.

“Growing up, I just feel like a lot of my consistency, and a lot of my positive role models were always at school for me, and that was somewhere I felt like I could really be myself, and I had adults that cared and were pushing me, and making me be my best, and I didn’t necessarily have that at home,” said Rauls.

“I always knew I wanted to be that for kids. I always wanted them to come to this place and feel safe, and know that the adults here care about them, no matter what’s going on in your home life, we care, and we want you to be successful.

“That’s what I had when I was young, so I’m just hoping to recreate that in the school here.”

With so much momentum, it might come as a surprise that Rauls has decided to give up the reins of the cheer program that she helped guide to so much success.

“I feel like I have been able to just accomplish so much, and I feel like I really want to focus on my role here at Downey High School as department chair,” said Rauls. “This is my first year as department chair, and I feel like I want to really focus on that and teaching history. That’s what I originally intended to do, was to get into this to be a history teacher, so I’m really excited to be able to focus on that.”

The decision does not come easily, as Rauls says “her life has been Downey cheerleading” for the last nine years.

“Some of the best moments of my life have been with the kids, and just seeing them now that they’re getting older, seeing them and the lives that they’ve created… just seeing the kids that you’ve made such strong connections with grow up is still such, just big moments in my life.”

She continued:

“Now that I’m getting older, I don’t know that I can necessarily do that anymore, and I definitely want to end this on a high note, and it has been a high note, absolutely. And I don’t want to wait until I’m too tired to give the kids what they need, and be who they need.”