Darla Zerff , better known as Ms. Darla to her students, is a dance teacher in Moose Jaw and the Director and Co-Owner of The Doris Sitter School of Dance (DSSD).

Recently, she received a Lifetime Membership award from the Canadian Dance Teachers Association (CDTA).

“It was my thirtieth year of teaching the CDTA tap and jazz syllabus and any teacher that hits this landmark of thirty years becomes a member of the CDTA corporation,” said Ms. Darla.

Before she was a certified CDTA instructor, Ms. Darla taught under Doris Sitter, the founder of DSSD and one of the instructors who created the CDTA back in 1949.

Ms. Darla was actually qualified for the award last year, but it wasn’t until Sunday September 17th of this year that she received it.

“I’m just glad that I’ve been a part of the CDTA for this long. It is a very good organization that does make sure that the teachers that are out across Canada are qualified to be teaching young students. And I think that's very important, to have those qualifications for safety.”

Ms. Darla is also a certified ballet and Acrobatique instructor, and doesn’t plan on to stop instructing any time soon.