2.11 A Conversation with Christa Vogt
This week Jimmy talks with Drama Teacher Academy contributor Christa Vogt. She talks about her career, how she got started with Drama Teacher Academy, and her very passionate advice for teachers!
Christa’s Recommended Resources
http://www.dramateacheracademy.com
Using your colleagues within your district
Podcasts (Flipping the Script, THED Talks)
Textbooks
Unmasking Theatre Design by Lynn Porter
Speaker 1:
[inaudible] .
Speaker 2:
Hello everyone and welcome to Thad talks on Jimmy Chrisman , your host . This is season two, episode 11. And uh , I want to thank you for joining me that talks to the podcast for theater teachers and theater education students. Each week I bring you stories and interviews from experienced K-12 theater teachers, current theater education majors and professors of theater education that will warm your heart, renew your faith in teaching and provide resources to better your practice in your theater
Speaker 3:
classroom. Well last week we heard from cofounder of drama teacher Academy and resident playwright of theater folk Lindsey price. And this week we are going to have a conversation with Krista vote . Kristen is a regular contributor to a drama teacher Academy and , uh , is doing amazing things at her school. So I'm excited to bring this interview to you. Now I will tell you, this is [inaudible] probably one of the hardest interviews I had to do technically speaking. Uh , there were probably three, I believe , uh , attempts to, to record the interview with Krista. So this is pieced together from the best of those three, three parts. And , uh , um, I , I hope you enjoy what she had to say. I really enjoy chatting with her and , uh,
Speaker 2:
I stay in touch with her pretty regularly. So I hope you enjoy my conversation with Krista . Vote. I'm excited to welcome as my guest up that talks to this
Speaker 3:
episode. Christa vote. Uh , Krista is the theater teacher at visual and performing arts Academy at Salem high school in Norfolk, Virginia. She's also a regular contributor to theater folk and the drama teacher Academy, which we have talked about a lot on the podcast. Um , so Krista , I am, I'm excited to talk with you. Uh , my, my friend and mentor Matt Webster , um, introduced me to you. So I, I know you're good people and uh, I'm just excited to kind of chat with you about your experiences so far in teaching theater.
Speaker 4:
Big , happy to be here.
Speaker 3:
Well first tell us a little bit about where you teach and uh , I know you just your , your starting year 20, actually tomorrow. Um, so tell us a little bit about your program and kind of your experiences in teaching theater that have led you to where we are right now.
Speaker 4:
Uh, well the visual and performing arts Academy is , um, an Academy within a public school. So the kids, actually the school's in Virginia Beach, so the school, the kids everywhere in the city can audition to get in. Um, and we're really an actor training program at the public high school level. And we look at, you know , the whole child when they come in. It's not just about Callen , it's about their letters of recommendation and their discipline and their passion and their interest in learning. So I think that sometimes is a big misconception that it's, you know, all the most talented kids in the city and we're like fame , uh, you know, and it's not, it's, it's just kids who really want to focus on that and , um, make that their, their high school experience focus. And not even all kids go on to become actors after high school. Sometimes they figure out that's not what they want to do, but they learn so much in the program that they , they say [inaudible]
Speaker 3:
well that's exciting. So , uh , I know you, you've just finished grad school recently. Uh, so talk a little bit about that experience for you and kind of what that has provided you , um, as you go back into your classroom now,
Speaker 4:
I think, you know, there's that common imposter syndrome that many theater teachers have, right? Like when are they gonna figure out, I don't know what I'm doing. Um, my undergrad was, was like many theater teachers, the acting and directing focus. And when I came to this program at Salem , um , I started teaching technical theater, which was terrifying. You know, I, I did all the online research and all that , but I could find from my college notes, which were, you know, yellowed with age and irrelevant. Um, I ended up getting a degree, a masters master of arts in production and design. Um, so, and the program I went to was at Southern Oregon university and it's geared towards theater educators. So it was everything that we learned there was directly applicable immediately and almost required as part of program to apply it in our program. So I think for me it has reduced the imposter syndrome to the point where I can freely say, I don't know, let's look it up or figure it out together. You know, it's kind of given me that , uh , higher risk taking confidence I think. I don't think I'm an expert in anything, but ,
Speaker 3:
well, that sounds a lot like my experience. When I, when I did my master's program at UNC Greensboro, I was very acting, directing heavy in my undergrad. And then when I started at UNC Greensboro , um, I was fortunate enough to kind of tailor my program to what I wanted to, what deficiencies I wanted to fill. And I, and I took advantage of that with the, with the technical things. Um, again, I'm like you, I don't, I don't claim to be an expert in that, but I do feel a little more confident in that, that I can, I can say, all right, well let's figure that out together and hopefully it'll be safe. And there'll be correct. So
Speaker 4:
yeah, I remember at my old, my first school , um, you know, I knew next to nothing about PAC or construction and we were, you know, at one of the Saturday crew calls and all the upper level kids who knew how to do stuff, they were gone. They'd graduated and you know, the show opened in two weeks. Then we had a door flats and a flat. That's all we had done. And you know, we're on lunch break and everybody was sitting down looking at the non-existence set. And I thought, what would happen if we did this show with no set? And of course it was adore comedy, which doesn't really work at , but you know, I just took the positive spin on it because I knew with my lack of knowhow, the dwindling time, I thought we had to take a left turn to Albuquerque and quickly and with confidence. So it was kind of after that, I thought, all right, at some point I've got to do, I've got to do something about it . So.
Speaker 3:
Well tell me a little bit about where your , um, where your desire and passion to teach came from.
Speaker 4:
Uh, I think I've always been a nurturer . I mean, I think all teachers are, you know , um, I think I was one of those cliche children teaching class and my stuffed animals and, you know, really working on their positive behavior with, you know, the kitties and the dragons or whatever I had. And I think there's just so there's something so powerful about watching young people grow right before your very eyes and realizing that you as an adult, you're growing with them, you know, cause they're , you're seeing the world through their eyes and, and, and the flexibility that it requires as a teacher to help navigate, help them navigate their journey through these tumultuous high school years and sort of sending them off. I think it's just about being there for, for young people and, and, you know , being able to do that through the art of theater, I think it's pretty powerful.
Speaker 3:
Well. So I'm gonna shift gears just a little bit and ask you how, how you got involved with , uh , theater folk and the drama teacher Academy and kind of what, what you're doing now with that .
Speaker 4:
Uh , I directed one of Lindsey Price's shows emotional baggage, which to this day, it's probably my favorite one act I've ever done. And uh, it was probably a year or two after it was written, so it was in the early 2003, four , I can't remember exactly. And , um, I was attending the Virginia theater association conference and competition and there was another school, I don't remember who it was, who was, who is performing emotional baggage. And since it, it meant something so much as , Oh, I have to even go see that. And um, you know, my students were off doing something else and I was watching it and I was sitting next to a woman came next to me and I just started gushing. I love this so much that duh, duh, duh duh. And I was sitting next to Lindsey price pricing force and then she introduced herself and I said, Oh, well, hello. This was completely unsolicited phrase . I had no idea. You were , um, you know, and she had a theater folk table, so I checked it out and you know, looked at some of the plays and then , um, I would just always been a fan of theater folk in their amazing generosity with their free resources for teachers online. And then when drama teacher Academy started in August of 2014 , um, I joined like the next day and I just was very active on their Facebook page and , um, giving advice and pointing people to resources. Uh , and then, you know, one point when the asked if I wanted to be one of their community managers. So I'm just, I'm hooked. I love the community. It's , it's , um, incredibly supportive , um, the great resource for, I would say particularly new and novice teachers , um , or those who don't have curriculum laid out for them. But then of course for veteran teachers, it's always good to shake things up and the different ways of doing things. So it's , it's, it's fun for all.
Speaker 3:
Well, when I spoke with Lindsey a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to make sure I told her and I want to do the same for you, that I truly appreciate what you all are doing with, with drama teacher Academy. And I think , um, all the different guests that I've had on here who have recommended it. Um, I know myself when I was still in the classroom, I, I frequently , um, checked it out to find new ways to teach what I've been teaching, just to keep it fresh for me and , and a different way to do something. So , um, I know you've been a lifeline to many teachers , um, beginning as well as who've been doing it for awhile , who just want to do something new with it. So thank you so much for all that you do with that and , uh, keep doing what you're doing and it's a , it's a great resource and great things that you're doing. Um, I , I do want to you before we , uh, actually started the interview. You, you mentioned to me that at one point you , uh , wanted to pursue figure skating and did that for a little bit. So talk to me a little bit about how maybe that played into what you're doing.
Speaker 4:
Um , yeah , so I was a figure skater for 15 years. Um, big ice strength family, the , my dad and brother played hockey. I took figure skating lessons. I've performed in shows, I know like Disney on ice and star Wars on ice and things like that. And um, I was like , uh, not of the, the vein , like the rest of the people started doing competitions and things like that. And I realize that that's not what I like about it. Um, I was like at the high end of mediocre, so , uh , really wasn't interested in competing anyway. And I realized it was, it was the performance back back of it that I really liked. So [inaudible] college, I decided I want to major in theater. Wow. That makes so much sense to my parents. Um, and okay . I think that that's where I found kind of a huge part of who I am, you know, is that expressive. Um, nurturers I talked about a little earlier and um, I think because I was really only at the high end of mediocre as a figure skater and I did that for 15 years. I think that's why, if not so important to me that all of my students go on to become, you know, the Merrill street than the, you know, whoever the popular actors are today, you know, it's about helping find who they are. And I think that's what I discovered through figure skating. It wasn't, I'm , I'm not an athlete. The performer.
Speaker 5:
Well do you still , um, do you still do outside theater work outside of what you do with your students?
Speaker 4:
Um, I did until I started grad school, so I really look forward to rejoining that. Uh, yeah, I , the last show I was in, it took me a really long time to do grad school cause I started family illness and so I had to defer. So I haven't been in a show in about four years, but I definitely miss it. I , um , I think it's important to have those current real world experiences. So I can say, Oh, last night at rehearsal versus I was in a show was , you know, it make it relevant that I'm not just making stuff up.
Speaker 5:
Yeah. I feel the same way. I think I overdid it at one point , um , with my extracurricular involvement for myself in the community, but , um, I, that was important to me. Uh, and it still is. And so I , I still love directing. Um , and I, I lovingly say I love, I love directing and working with adults. Um, and I love acting with adults and being directed by adults. So I , I do think that's really important and a , a big part to feed that artist in this as well.
Speaker 4:
Agreed. Agreed. Yep.
Speaker 5:
Well, what , um, tell me a couple of your favorite, favorite stories from your career so far. Uh , it can be funny stories where a kid just made you laugh or a whole situation made you laugh, or it was a horror story that you learned from, or even one of those poignant moments that you're like, Hmm , okay, yeah, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. That kind of thing.
Speaker 4:
Um , I guess there's a, I really like , um, freedom within structure, if that makes any sense. So my classes are hard. Yeah. Um , but within it, they, they often forget that they're learning, you know? Um , I overheard a kid last year who I didn't have in class anymore telling a current of my students. He said, okay , okay , I'm going to paraphrase. But it was something like, yeah, I miss his votes. Classes are no joke. I'm still [inaudible] guard from analysis. And they shared a laugh and I was like, yeah , that's right. That's right. Um , and I think what makes me really proud is when I hear those conversations, not for my benefit and they're coming from a genuine place. My kids were, we did this , um , the collaboration projects last year. That was a big, big risk for all of us. Cause I'd never done it before to know what I was doing. And it ended up going really well. And the newspaper was interviewing my kids and what they were saying, it just, it warmed me, you know, they were talking about the importance of what they do, reaching out into the community to reach something larger than themselves. And that, that's the point, you know , um , and doing that through the artists theater, but it wasn't about me being on stage, being a star and getting the role , you know, they were really understanding. Um , but the core of what we teach in my program is that concept of ensemble is that it is , the hole is larger than any of its parts. And it's, it's about, you know , making your partner look good and feel smart, whether it's a scene partner or, you know, first grade art student who we were working with. It was all about that and they got it. And , um, you know, again, they weren't saying that for my benefit, but that's what they were getting out of the experience. And that was really cool to hear them say,
Speaker 5:
well thanks to the magic of editing that I'll be doing later. We'll be editing out my technical difficulties that I've had and I appreciated what you shared as we got back and back together talking here that you know, it , I'm a teacher, I get it . Sometimes things fall apart. So can you talk about one of those times where that happened and in your classroom and what you learned from that and how you moved on?
Speaker 4:
Uh , I think one of the keys to sanity sustainability and you loosely using the word success as a teacher is that idea of flexibility and um , fully embracing that you don't have to know everything about everything or everything about anything really. It's, it's about honesty and seeing things fall apart and being okay with it. I was being observed last year by my principal, which is rare. Um, it's usually my Academy coordinator, but they were both in there and my coordinator was new last year. She with neutral position . The lesson was failing miserably and I just let it, I just turned around to them. I said, this is falling apart and it's a train wreck and I'm just [inaudible] , I am just going to watch it. And they sort of laugh
Speaker 5:
okay
Speaker 4:
about it later. And it's [inaudible] I think it's just about being okay . It's like as a performer, some needs, some nights you nail it and then some nights are God awful, but you , you still go on. It's not, it's not the end of you as a teacher, a professional actor. And uh , you know, I guess I would, I would lovingly challenge if that does break you, that this may not be the field for you because it constantly falls apart and it's, can you stop, reassess and readjust in that moment? Uh , we had freshman orientation last week and there's an icebreaker that I do every single year and it's called the name chance. It's very loud and energetic, and they learn everybody's name within minutes. And it was, it was flopping. They were terrified. They were really hesitant. Um, and I thought, Oh dear goodness, when am I going to do? And I, you know, in my thought bubble, I happened to look over at a table and I saw stack of sticky notes. I'm like, got it. I went over and got them, I gave them all sticky notes and quickly mustered up any writing utensil I could find. And I said, okay, on there, this is anonymous, don't write your name, but understand it . Everyone's going to see these right down, something that you are really nervous about either being in this Academy program, being in high school or something about me that is terrifying you right now. And the pencils and pens were scribbling, they were writing really fast. And I said, okay , I would like you to gently crush them up and little balls. And I sit in the center of the room and next to hit me, hit me with them, just throw them all at me. And they were like, what ? Yeah, just just throw them. And they threw them all and I mixed them all up and I said, okay , can you tell what you want is yours? And everyone was like, no, I know . Great. So then someone came up , um , volunteer and red one and you know, I don't, several of them or just anxiety about high school about this program, about , um , typically they're coming from big fish, small pond. And when they come to our program, they're just a fish. And I tried to tell them, you are a fish and, and let me assure you that there's plenty of water for everybody. So, you know, one opened up and they said, I'm really afraid , um , that I won't make any friends. And I said, okay , who can relate to that? And you know, half the class, their hand went up and I said, Oh, okay, look around. You're not alone. And we just kept going through those, kept going through those and by the end it was like this really , uh , passionate chance one would get red and everyone would say, you are not alone. And you know, it was so awesome. And so, no, they don't know each other's names and I only caught about five of them, but they already have, you know, the bonds now in this safety net as they walk into class tomorrow. And that has nothing to do with my prepared lesson. But long story long is it's about flexibility and being present, being in the room, paying attention to the children because it's not about you, the teacher. So that lesson goes again, make your partner look good and feel smart and my partner every day or my students. So what do they need? Not about what brilliant lesson I came up with or, or, you know, how clever this can sound. And it's not, it's, it's being willing to throw it out the window, change on a dime , um , and be present. You know, we say, you know, there's two places for an actor to be in their head or in the room and I'm asking you to be in the room. And I asked that of myself as well.
Speaker 5:
Yeah. That , uh , that's, that's beautiful. Um, I, back in the spring I took some of my junior and senior theater ed majors. Um, to , uh , uh , Chicago school and they taught a lesson to a group of, of intro students. And , uh, some of them were really successful. Some the lessons fell flat on their face. I say the teacher did not, but the lesson may have. And , uh , the conversations on the way back, they were like, ah, it just failed. I bombed, I don't [inaudible] this , this shouldn't have happened and I wasn't successful. And I said, but did you keep going? Did you, did you pick up where you were and did you keep going? Well , yeah. I said, did you get, did the kids get some good work out of it? Well, yeah, I said that it didn't fail, right?
Speaker 4:
Yeah .
Speaker 5:
I'm like, well, I guess so, but the lesson did it . I was like, yeah, the lesson may have, but you didn't.
Speaker 4:
Yeah. And I think it's hard for those new teachers to understand that. Yeah. I mean, they learn about it in a textbook from their professors and, and they have, yeah . You know, a really black and white version of what it is and what it should be. And it's hard to know that that's not what it is until you're actually in the room, like you said.
Speaker 5:
Yeah.
Speaker 4:
Okay .
Speaker 5:
Well what , um , as you're working with your students, what do you, I have two questions for you. The first one I should probably ask before the other one, what , what are you most looking forward to this coming school year with your students?
Speaker 4:
Uh, you know, on a selfish page, not being in grad school, just being able to be a teacher and um, explore, you know, apply what I've learned without that external deadline pressure or this silly thing called a grade being attached to it. And um, we take risks without the fear of the great effecting. And I took a lot of risks during grad school that was, you know, what we were really encouraged to do. Um, um, and I'm, I always look forward to the new crop of kids cause because they are program, they're in cohort . So I already know your two, three and fours , but it's the year one who are just coming in like , um , just wide open. Or sometimes they're like, I already know how to act. What do you going to teach me? You know , um, and we have this , this phrase that we say with endearment. We, we tell all of our students that they saw , um, and then they sort of look at you like, what, how dare you? And I said, no , no, no, no, no, I suck too . I just suck less because I have more training. And that's our, our funny way of saying you've got to have that growth mindset. Cause if you already think you know everything, you don't need to be here. So we'll always be looking to improve and to try different things. And that's really what I look forward to every year. It's just that, that exploration.
Speaker 5:
Well, and my follow up question to that is, as you're looking ahead to your students and, and even looking back over the past few years of your teaching, what, what are you seeing as the greatest need in your students now? And how can we as theater teachers help them with that
Speaker 4:
there ? Um, you know, to use the educational buzz word, social emotional learning is a big push. And , um, what I have found in all of the , the sort of educational wave, you know, there was project based learning, there was ECP , the explore design, create, publish and, and I, you know , I think , well that's , that actually is what theater does. And so I love that shift of the soft skills that you learn in theater and now becoming the actual skills that are needed. Um, but social emotional learning, case in point, my , my tried and true day one, ice regular learned names failed miserably because they weren't in a , in a, in a strong enough emotional place to be able to jump right in. So I think , um, you know, just being ever mindful of these kids are going through things that we never went through. Uh , you know, the bombardment of technology. If there's one bad thing that happens, they're going to hear about it 88 a thousand times a day on just one social media platform, right ? Forget about anywhere else. So I think, yeah . Um , that there's a real need, there's a real need for that to help our kids. Um, [inaudible] okay . Be able to advocate for themselves. To , um , not take failures as ultimate sense of self failures, that it's just a blip at the positive point and they need to redirect giving them that, that strength. I think that's important. And like I said, I think theater does that. Um, you know, so at the end of the day , if these kids move on and do theater, great, if they don't, that's fine. I , um , if I sit on my Instagram page today for my kids, you know, what are you most looking forward to this year? And one young lady said, transferable skill , I can't wait to use those. Um, and she is, she wants to become a neonatal nurse, I think. And she's saying that the empathy that you learn in theater , the , um, you know, able to see what your character is going through dealing with other characters and how they take care of needs of character , um , is directly transferable to the medical field and any other, but she was speaking specifically of hers , so that's ,
Speaker 5:
Oh , how cool is that?
Speaker 4:
Yeah. It's going to be like a nurse saying like, well my theater training, I mean bedside manner, all of this dealing with difficult staffing, you know, what your objective would have . How are your tactics then what is in the way and not in a manipulative way just in a, in a basic real human communication way. Because that's really what we want on stage anyway. We , we always say, you know, you gotta be a person. Stop being so active. What are you doing? Just be a person out of the person, walk out of the person, communicate . Ah , so I think that's , I'm really excited to watch all of that unfold.
Speaker 5:
That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, thinking back to 20 years ago when you first began teaching , uh, I know, trust me, I, I did the same look with my face when I , when I'm asked that, what is, what, what was something that you wished , um, first year teacher, Krista would have known before she started that day? One. What is something that your undergrad program couldn't have taught you but that you wish you had known?
Speaker 4:
Okay . Um , I think I touched on it earlier, that idea of flexibility is vital. You don't have to know everything about everything or even anything because we, yes, we're the experts in our field, but we are okay . We're not the experts on everything. I think our expertise needs to come in the facilitator, the guiding students to find the information for themselves. Um, and it's okay if they know more than you. Um, and I think that's hard as a new teacher to embrace.
Speaker 5:
Yeah. Well, I have two final questions for you and they're the same ones I asked everyone I have on the show. Um, the first one is what is a resource that you use that is something that we absolutely have to know about?
Speaker 4:
Well, other than theater folks.
Speaker 5:
Okay .
Speaker 4:
Pardon me? Of course. Aye . I think it's so many theater teachers are Singleton. I think it's really important to reach out to colleagues. Um, and drama teacher Academy of course is a way to do it, but even within your district , um, I think the more you can communicate with others, the more resources that you can share. Uh, I think , um, podcasts are great. Um, and other than you are there recently found flipping the script is the name. I'm with Lindsey Quijada . I can't, I might be saying her name incorrectly and I know she has every theater R E colon theater. Um, I know that some of her resources are free and some of them are not. Um, bye feel her podcasts , her, the energy in dial the podcast might really appeal to younger teachers , um, in particular, not just, but in particular there is a sort of millennial feel to it. Um, and textbooks, I don't know, especially if you're starting out in design, you know, if you're starting out as an actor, director, teachers, there's a really great book called , um , it's by Lynn Porter . Oh my gosh, let me see. Oh , um , unmasking theater design. Sorry. Got there . Unmasking theater design by Lynn Porter I think is , um, it's so user friendly. It kind of walks you through the design process and the how tos and um, it gives a really excellent graphic of the traffic of a design. Like you do the research, you make designs, but it's not a linear thing. Um , and I think that that's helpful for student design students and also acting students to understand there's not just a to Z the right way that this, the process is , it's a spaghetti mess. Um , I think, I think those would be what I would recommend.
Speaker 5:
Good deal. I'll check that one out for sure. Um, and then my final question for you is what are your parting words of wisdom for new teachers or even veteran teachers who are about to embark on their new year and just need an uplifting word?
Speaker 4:
Put the oxygen mask on yourself first. Oh,
Speaker 5:
that's good. That's good.
Speaker 4:
Yeah. Balance. It's okay to say no and keeping those boundaries. Uh , you know, the, the harsh truth of it is if we are all so incredibly replaceable, so you don't have to do it all, you've got to put that oxygen mask on yourself first.
Speaker 5:
That's good. That's good. Well, Krista, I, I really appreciate you joining me and being so flexible with, with all the technical difficulties with this. Um, but I unfortunately for the people who are listening, they don't get to see the face of who I'm talking to, but I can assure all the listeners that , um , Krista's face lights up anytime she talks about her kids and about what she does so I can see the passion in her eyes and in her smile. And I really appreciate you sharing that with us and I wish you all the best with your new year coming up and
Speaker 4:
thank you.
Speaker 2:
Kids are really lucky. So I hope you have a great year. And again, thanks for talking with me. Thanks so much for having me. Well thank you Krista vote for joining me on the show. I really enjoy chatting with you and I enjoy
Speaker 3:
staying in touch with you on all of our social media. So thanks for being a major player with that and the and for keeping me entertained and encouraged as well. So if you are not following us on social media, you need to be doing that. We are on twitter@theateredtalksontumblerfedtalksdottumblr.com on Facebook at fed talks. And the tech fed talks group Instagram at fed talks podcast . And of course you can always find us on our website@wwwdotfedtalks.com. You can find all of our past show, all of our episodes in the archives, all the transcripts of the episodes, as well as all the resource lists from all the teachers who have been on the show. So please be sure you check that out. You can find fed talks on all your favorite podcast providers, Poe , Apple podcasts on iTunes, Google podcast, Google play, Spotify, Stitcher, any pod, and tune in. So go on your favorite place. If you're not going our website to find us and subscribe to the show, rate us, review us, and , uh, most importantly, share the, the podcast with those theater educators in your life who you think could use what we're doing here. Thank you so much for listening. Again, I am extremely excited about our upcoming segment. I know I've talked about it for several weeks now . I've been hyping it up for quite a while , but we do have a couple of really great stories coming your way that , um, my friend Mimi Kirkin Dalton , I will be bringing you a four hour . So this just happened, a segment of the show. If you'd like to submit a, your story, your question or your scenario or situation to us, please go on our website that talks.com and click on, so this just happened. There's an online form for you to submit that there and you can let us know if you actually want to talk with us about it here on the show and we will get in touch with you to make that happen. Um, please , uh, again, make sure you visit our website, visit us on social media, email me a fed talks podcast@gmail.com if you have ideas for the show, if you'd like to be a guest on the show or um , if you , uh, just have some feedback for me to, to keep making a show better. Thank you Joel Hamlin and Joshua Schusterman for the use of your original music magnetize and flip the record. I appreciate you guys and I also appreciate you for listening. Please keep checking us out. We have a great interview next week. I'm really excited to bring this one to you. And , uh , I, if you haven't caught up on all the past episodes, you've got plenty of time to do that now that most of you have a little bit of downtime coming where your , your state contests and festivals of have winded down and , uh ,
Speaker 2:
you have a little bit of breathing room most likely before. If you , you're like me getting ready to have auditions for your spring musical and keep that going once you get back from Christmas break. So take some time for you. Breathe, relax, do something nice for yourself and , uh , keep giving the love of this kids. But more importantly, also give up yourself. Cause like Krista said, if you don't put the oxygen mask on new first, you're not going to have it to give back to them. So take care of yourselves and have a great week.
