A graduate in cap and gown standing with a woman in a black gown outside a building with stone steps and a green door.

Educator

Educator

Currently I teach at LaGrange College. I am a proud product of the program and I am thankful that my colleague, mentor, and Chair of the Fine and Performing Arts Department Kim Barber Knoll hired me for a two-year appointment as a lecturer. After graduating from LaGrange College in 2019, I received an MFA in Theatre Performance from The University of Southern Mississippi where I taught Acting and Beginning Movement courses for majors and non-majors. The research I completed for my role as Hedda Gabler entitled ‘A Woman on the Edge: Creating the Character Hedda Gabler’ earned me a spot in USM's Graduate Research Symposium.

After graduate school, I was hired to teach English at Pryor Middle School in my hometown, Fort Walton Beach, FL. At Pryor, I was given the opportunity to create and build a drama program for students at my Title I school. I developed a comprehensive curriculum for the inaugural Theatre Arts program that aligned with state standards. Teaching in Florida after the Parental Rights in Education Act passed was a challenging and surreal experience. Students needed community more than ever. I developed an inclusive program that enabled middle school students to perform their original works for students with special needs and allowed for sensory accommodations. I produced performances for the community with an emphasis on the inclusion of my English Language Learning students and their families. I designed programs and publicity materials in Spanish to accommodate the 40% of my students who spoke Spanish as a first-language. While teaching at the secondary level, I directed my students in Alice in Wonderland and I was invited to guest directThe Radium Girls and Once Upon a Mattress at Fort Walton Beach High School. I have led movement, acting, voice, and auditioning masterclasses for a number of secondary age groups, schools and theaters.

I have a penchant for theatre education and I use professional theatre work to inform my teaching style. I worked as an actor and teaching artist with the Emerald Coast Theatre Company (ECTC) in Destin, FL. My professional acting credits at ECTC include The Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol (directed by Marcie Duncan), and Chick Boyle in Crimes of The Heart (directed by Sherry Landrum), and I have led educational showcases and production camps for ECTC's educational programs. I have also worked with the Florida based pre-professional theatre company Mosaic Theatre Company as an intimacy director and casting director.

Experience:

    • Maintain a 3:2 teaching load of Theatre Arts courses for a private liberal-arts college

    • Develop comprehensive curriculum for performance-based acting courses for 12-14 students

    • Mentor students on Undergraduate Research Symposium entries and Production Design process

    • Earned consistently effective evaluation scores on end of semester surveys

    • Design and deliver lecture-style theatre history and appreciation courses serving 20-25 students a semester

    • Direct productions for local and collegiate audiences averaging 140 attendees per performance

    • Serve as a member of the Student Engagement Committee to support student-centered academic success

    • Implement consent-based practices into classroom using methods from Theatrical Intimacy Education

    • Design social media posts for the Theatre Arts department on Instagram and Facebook

    • Increased social media viewership on Instagram by 2,700%

    • Recruited students at recruiting events increasing department size by 92%

    • Designed unique modern curriculum for inaugural drama class, while teaching 5 sections of ELA

    • Provided and produced performance opportunities for 20 first-time drama students

    • Created sensory-aware performances for students in Special Education program to enjoy

    • Aligned culminating projects and tasks with FL standards and focus on one area of theatrical study per quarter

    • Devised and produced theatrical performances with students 2-3 times a semester with found spaces

    • Lead themed camps for students aged 5-12

    • Directed final showcases for students to present to friends and family

    • Choreographed and music directed 8-12 songs for showcases

    • Highlighted performers of varying experiences and abilities

Group of seven people indoors, four women in modern clothing and three men in traditional Scottish Highland dress including tartan kilts and sporrans.
Group of seven diverse girls and young women standing outside in front of a school building, some with backpacks, one with crossed arms, and one with arms around another, posing for a photo.
A woman and a person dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, both smiling, standing close together in front of posters for theatrical productions.
Three women smiling and taking a selfie together in a busy indoor environment with a bar or counter and people in the background.
Two women with green face paint standing in front of a mirror, taking a selfie. The background shows a variety of colorful costumes hanging on a rack.
Theater stage with four actresses, three standing on elevated platform and one sitting on a sofa, performing in a play with colorful lighting and a curtain backdrop.
A girl in a classroom holding a puppet sock with a unicorn face and a paper butterfly with googly eyes. She is smiling with her eyes closed, and other students are in the background.
A woman sitting on a patterned sofa on a stage, with a dark background and theatrical lighting.
Blue classroom door decorated with colorful posters and notes about writing projects, including notes in English and Spanish, with images of guitars and music symbols.
Close-up of a hand holding a book titled 'Hatchet' by Gary Paulsen in front of a playground structure with children playing outside on dirt and grass ground.
A girl in a classroom holding a puppet with a sock head and colorful decorations, wearing a black t-shirt with a NASA logo, and paper bracelets on her wrist. Other children are working at tables in the background.
Flyer for a theatrical presentation titled "Alicia en mundo maravilloso" scheduled for April 6, 2024, at 6:00 PM at the United Methodist Church of Trinidad, located at 403 Racetrack Rd NW FT, Walton Beach, Florida.