Tericka Dye

Tericka Dye (born November 10, 1972) is an American former pornographic actress whose stage name was Rikki Anderson (sometimes spelled Andersin). Later known by the name Tera Myers, she made national headlines when, after retiring from the adult industry and becoming a teacher in Kentucky, her brief pornographic career was discovered. Dye said she became involved in pornography while working as an impoverished exotic dancer in California, later saying that she had "screw[ed] up royally."

Film career

After serving in the U.S. Army, Dye did a few movies in 1997, including Amazing's Tight Ass. Afterwards she then re-enlisted. She was then stationed at Fort Lewis as a member of the Military Police in the Army's Regional Confinement Facility. She appeared in a few more films after this, including Cream Entertainment Group's Major Slut, and was a contract star for Cream Entertainment. Dye appeared in at least eleven adult films overall. She later revealed that she suffered from bipolar disorder and appeared in her first pornographic movie in 1995 because she was homeless, unemployed, and seeking treatment. Dye said she used a pseudonym during the one day of filming in which she was involved, saying, "I absolutely 100 percent regret doing that. I've always tried to look ahead and not focus on it. But I wasn't diagnosed at the time." Dye was 22 years old when she appeared in her first adult movie, and went on to receive a bachelor's degree from Murray State University.

Controversy

Dye joined the Army after leaving the pornography industry. She used the GI Bill to attend college and graduated at the top of her class. She appeared on the December 6, 2006 episode of Dr. Phil where she explained that she had worked at Reidland High School in Paducah, Kentucky. Dye was a science teacher and volleyball coach at the High School until 2006 when school officials learned of her pornographic career. According to ynot.com, "Dye was suspended from work, banned from school property, her contract not renewed once it expired, and she was never given a public hearing because she was paid through the end of her contract." School officials said she would be a disruption in the learning environment, but Dye claimed that she would be a good example to students since she had "risen above a troubled childhood with an alcoholic father" and turned her life around despite having bipolar disorder; she also needed the money to support her four children. Dye also spent time as a science teacher at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky, where she once lived.

In May 2006, Dye defended herself, saying, "I'm a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who's made a lot of bad decisions in life. Anybody who's been in my classroom could tell you how much I love teaching and how much I love these students, and that should be what matters more than anything in my past." In 2007, Dye's lawyer confirmed she would not pursue the appeal of a lawsuit against the McCracken County Public Schools and was moving out of Kentucky, though he did not disclose where.

2011 incident

In March 2011, Don Senti, interim superintendent of the Parkway School District in St. Louis County, Missouri, said Dye was on administrative leave from her position at the school at her own request. Dye's decision, granted "out of respect for her privacy and that of her family," came after a student inquired about her pornographic career. The district said Dye passed background checks before being hired as a teacher in 2007, but it did not know about her past until the student found out about it online, because her career in the pornography industry was legal and her references did not discuss it. A district representative said Parkway contacted the Kentucky school to verify her references in 2007, and no mention of her suspension or stint in pornography was made.

Dye will continue to be paid until the end of the semester, at which time she is to leave the Parkway School District. "We're surprised, very surprised," said Parkway School District spokesperson Paul Tandy. "At the same time we feel for her and her family. We do believe she has tried to move on with her life ... Unfortunately, even though it happened 15 years ago, [the video] is still there." Dye was supported by parents and other educators at the time of her 2006 suspension, and students continued to defend her in 2011.

According to KMOV news, Dye's name while working in St. Louis was Tera Myers, the name also seen on the website of Parkway North High School, where she was a science teacher. According to Tandy, Dye "was concerned about the impact it would have in the building," and, on March 4, informed the school's principal of her past after being asked by the student. Myers also was the coach of the girls' volleyball at Parkway North High School.