Vice-President K-12 Board
It seems
like yesterday that I began my journey in the TETA world. As a college student at East Texas State
University, I remember Dr. Kay Coughenour having a Texas Theatre Notes paper
hanging on his office door and there we were; Jim and I on the front page, in a
picture from our Summer Rep production of, Dracula. In 1984, I remember Dr. Curtis Pope, the head
of our department, receiving the distinguished TETA Founders Award, and
thinking, I wish I could go to that.
My first year of teaching, I taught a full day
of middle school theatre and one 6th grade English class. I knew of TETA, but I didn’t understand that
now I should probably attend and what it would do for “me,” as a middle school
theatre teacher. My second year of
teaching, our high school theatre teacher, then colleague, now friend, Jeanne
Gilson, moved on to a bigger school
district and I was asked to take over the high school program, as well as the
middle school. I was so excited! And I could not wait, because this time, I
was going to my first Texas Educational Theatre Association TheatreFest. So for those of you, especially new teachers,
who wonder if this is something you should invest in, TETA TheatreFest is for
YOU! My thanks for the knowledge,
networking, and inspiration I’ve received for these few years is
never-ending.
The
workshops are phenomenal. Every year I
have brought home, to my kids, a new lesson, a new technique, or a new script,
from the workshops I attend. I have
heard colleagues giggle about shopping during that cool January weekend, but no
pair of shoes or handbag can compare to the lessons I receive during my short days
of TheatreFest. Abstract Set Designs,
Self Made Costume Bags, and the Laban Method, to name a very few lessons I have
snagged in January. I look on my
bookshelf now and see the K-12 Histrionic Books that I have received. I don’t have 23 of them, only because I
didn’t get to the session early enough to get in, but the jewels inside those
books are used even 23 years later. The
knowledge gained from the workshops and beautiful fresh new play productions is
worth the small amount of money that it costs to attend.
Networking
is off the chain. The number of
colleagues that have become dear friends through this organization and during
this event is astounding. Scavenging
through the exhibit area, attending a workshop, or sitting in the bar,
guarantees a new teacher 5 new contacts.
Talbaby found me in Dallas one year, and the friendship was on. Travis and I met on the UIL Advisory
committee, serving as his secretary, and he continues to be my “other
brother.” My mentors, Luis, Pam, Lynn,
and Jan, are all a part of the TETA family that I gathered during TheatreFest
each year. My new friends and
colleagues, Melissa, Mandy, Gene, and the K-12 Board, come from the many hours
of working, planning, discussing, and sometimes, cussing, the ins and outs of
each event that TETA provides for our membership.
Inspirational
acceptance speeches and special guests remind me each year why we teach this
thing, we call theatre arts. The Awards
Reception, moved to Friday evening this year, has been the continual event that
I have never missed. From the beginning
of Awards Banquet in the first year, to the Awards Reception of 2011, I never
cease to be inspired by the eloquent words of recipients such as; Lou Ida
Marsh, Lynn Murray, Travis Poe, Kay Coughenour, Paula Rodriguez, and Lindsey
Ervi. Brian Stokes Mitchell, Angela
Lansbury, and Lynn Redgrave reminds me year after year how inspirational and
necessary theatre educators are for the youth of this new generation. TETA teaches and reminds me of how important
my position is in the educational system, where we may sometimes feel
unappreciated and forgotten, we are a necessity in the lives of our
students.
If you are
that teacher that can’t quite decide if TheatreFest is for you, think no
more. Get those forms filled out, make
that room reservation, and get ready to be inspired to new heights for the rest
of the 2011-12 school year. Don’t miss
another TETA event. TheatreFest 2012
begins your inspirational road through this journey of educational theatre.