You see, I love theatre.
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| Me playing Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret (college) |
I love my job. People always raise an eyebrow and say, "You teach high school? Wow..." like it's a bad thing.
It's not.
I get to see teenagers grow from awkward, babbling freshmen into confident, aware, and creative adults. I get to create art. I get to let kids express themselves in ways they can't in their other classes. I get to be their second mom. The theatre and rehearsal is a second home for these kids, mostly because we spend so much time together putting a play together. By the time rehearsal is over and it's opening night, we get to feel a sense of accomplishment together. It becomes their show. It's not an easy job, but it's a rewarding one.
Instead of dreading work tomorrow, I'm going to celebrate my work today.
Here's some photos from the plays I've directed since I started teaching four years ago.
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| Medea by Euripides |
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| As You Like It by William Shakespeare |
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| Dearly Departed by David Bottrell and Jesse Jones |
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| Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman (yes, that is a pool) |
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| Big Love by Charles Mee |
I hope this Labor Day finds you happy, healthy, and full of love. Celebrate what's great about it, even if it is a small thing, and don't dread going back tomorrow morning!
17 comments:
I think the work you do is incredible...and you should be paid more - influencing the lives of teenagers is a precious thing and shouldn't be taken lightly. And while we're at it, I should get paid more too. Here's to everyone getting a raise and a day off!
Hi! I'm visiting from [Life of Meg] Mingle Monday!
I think it is so awesome that you are taking a fresh perspective on your job. Sometimes, I realize about myself that I get into these "woe is me" phases in my life. I then decide that I'm just not going to be like that. I don't like being in a funk!
Kudos to you for taking on one of the hardest jobs in my opinion. I don't have the patience to be a teacher. I know what I put my teachers through and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that!
I can totally relate to your love of theater. Though I am not as advanced as you I did enjoy acting as a teen. (Fun fact: I was Oliver in Oliver Twist)
Anyway, you sound like an amazing teacher! I'm sure your love of what you do inspires countless kids!
This post made me smile! It is great to read about teachers who truly love what they are doing and the students they are teaching. The pictures from previous productions looks absolutely great and I look forward to seeing more in the future! Your students looks really happy and I can see how rewarding it must be!
I'm also visiting from Meg's Mingle Monday! I love this. So many people complain about work (myself sometimes included) but some people would kill just to have a job. I spent a lot of time this weekend being thankful for work and I'm glad someone else did too! Also, teachers do not get enough credit so thank you for the work that you do!
P.S. I am starting work at a live playhouse in a month and I don't know too much about theater, so this post got me even more excited to learn. thanks!
I think what you do is such a wonderful contribution to youth. They need a creative outlet, and they need something to keep them from getting into trouble. Theatre is an excellent program. I wish I had done theatre when I was in high school.
I get the feeling that your students are the luckiest kids ever to have you as their teacher! You're so passionate about it, I think it's fantastic. I used to dread going to the office (there was a certain phase, not all the time) and I have to say, I'm really happy with my life now. Except for the move. We're packing and everything that can go wrong with the new place is going wrong. It's so stressful and now we do sort of dread 'tomorrow' every day in case there's more bad news... I'll try and keep up with your great posts but please forgive me if I don't manage over the next few weeks!
This is so cool! Personally I love acting and still have dreams on pursuing that. I am a drama queen like that. But this is so cool that theater is such a big part of your life!
Beautiful picture of you Megan!! :) I am glad you love your job,you sound inspiring!
wow!!!! that's a cool job! :)
"I get to see teenagers grow from awkward, babbling freshmen into confident, aware, and creative adults." LOVE THAT.
Why do people think if you're not teaching cute little ones or smarty pants college kids that you're screwed? The ONLY teachers that influenced me through my many years of school were a handfull of my high school teachers. Ok, my rant is over. :)
Wow, looks like you've got an amazing theater department. Not to mention the fact that your department has a great teacher. Lucky them for having such an dedicated and passionate mentor. That's the kind of teacher those kids will remember for the rest of their lives, not to mention the amazing times they've had creating and producing such fun shows! Congratulations.
What a great blog!! I am really enjoying looking around. Thanks for sharing!! I am now a new follower!! Nicole @ colieskitchen.com BTW I found you on Bloggy Blog Hop!!
It's so great you love your job! More power too you! It looks so fun. I dabbled in acting as a young thing but sucked, but my more talented friends LOVED their theatre classes!
This is so great. Love the pictures. Theater is SO much fun. Such a great growing experience for me. I did it throughout high school :)
I honestly have a huge amount of respect for teachers...I would have never had the patience to deal with children. Also, I have severe stage fright, so the whole theatre thing gives you 50 more bonus points in my book.
Keep it up! Those plays look amazing and I would have loved to have been front and center.
Oh wow. You're so talented!
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