2.13 A Conversation with Krista Carson-Elhai
This week Jimmy speaks with Krista Carson Elhai. She talks about her involvement with the International Thespian Honor Society, her Theatre Teacher Bootcamp with Gai Jones, and fundraising!
Krista’s Recommended Resources
Bob and Marti Fowler- Technical Theatre DVD series https://practicaltechnicaltheatre.com/about
Online Facebook Groups
EdTA Community
Directing in Musical Theatre by Joe Deer
Acting in Musical Theatre by Joe Deer
Speaker 1:
[inaudible] .
Speaker 2:
Hello everyone. This is Jimmy Chrisman , your host of fed talks. Happy December to everyone. This is season two, episode 13 of the podcast. I thank you for listening and checking us out. Fed talks is a podcast for theater teachers and theater education students. Each week I bring you stories and interviews from experienced K-12 theater
Speaker 3:
teachers carry theater, education majors and professors of theater education to warm your heart, renew your faith in teaching and provide resources to better your practice in your theater classrooms. Thank you again for listening. I have a great interview with Krista Carson L high . She is a theater teacher out in California and uh , she works really closely with my last week's guest gay Jones , uh, on a theater teacher bootcamp and she's going to talk a little bit about that as well as her experiences with , uh, thespians, the international FSB and organization and , uh , just her experiences in teaching so far. I do hope you had a wonderful restful fall break over , uh , last week and uh , that you got some rest. You got some shopping done and you enjoyed some time with family and friends and ate some really good food . So
Speaker 2:
you have recovered a little bit from Matt and you're gearing up for the last few weeks. But until then, here's my conversation with Krista Carson L hi, I'm excited to welcome to fed talks. Krista Carson .
Speaker 3:
Oh , hi . She is a teacher at Claremont high school in California. Um, I'm really looking forward to talking with Krista about lots of things about her long career. So , uh, uh, Krista , if you just want to introduce yourself, kinda tell us a little bit about where you teach now and about your program and just kind of your journey to where you are now in your career.
Speaker 4:
Um , okay. I am currently just finished my 25th year at Claremont high school. Claremont is about 25 miles outside of Los Angeles, the very edge of LA County. Um, and for 10 years before that I was at Hemet high school out in the desert out near Palm Springs and my current program is um, about 530 students. We have 13 sections of theater and we do eight to 10 shows a year and we raise about $200,000 to fund our program. It's a , it's a great one. High school, one junior high, seven elementary schools, eight college town. That's kind of like this little plop of little bit new England, like in the middle of Southern California. That's a huge program.
Speaker 3:
That is a huge program. Um,
Speaker 4:
yeah, it'd be about 25 to 30% of the student body where we're at about 2200 students or high school.
Speaker 3:
Wow, that's amazing. Uh , or is it just you or are there multiple teachers?
Speaker 4:
Um , there's multiple teachers. Um , what we have is , um , a part of what I inherited was a , uh, co-curricular program where the musical director and I team teach two of the periods. So we have , um , an entry level musical theater class and an audition only musical theater class of 74 kids each. And so we can teach those. And then traditionally I've taught the technical two of the three technical theater classes with a tech teacher. So we've both done that for five sections of theater. And then we have several walk on choreographers. We have a lot of walk on designers. Um, and I say as far as the staff goes, that's pretty much the three of us that are paid by the school.
Speaker 3:
And do do you have , uh , any kind of booster parent program or anything?
Speaker 4:
I do. Um , I don't ask a lot of them and I, I always, I just taught a fundraising workshop on Friday at international thespian festival. And I always preface my talk about boosters is for 17 years I didn't have any because I had heard all the scary band directors or res . And then I allowed some parents I trusted to start one. And , um, I, I feel really strongly that high school kids need to be supported, but they can do a lot of their own, you know, work. And I don't want to burden my parents too much. You know, I, I want my parents to come to the shows, support the shows, publicize the program. But I really only have my boosters work. Um, our merchandise table, it shows. And , um, I have a former former booster parent that does all of my finances and I have a former booster parent that takes photos of our dress rehearsals and shows. So it's, I don't want them to have to do too terribly much.
Speaker 3:
Gotcha. Well, if I don't, I don't want to give away your whole fundraising workshop, but can you, can you give us any , uh , pointers or tips on how you fundraise such a massive amount of money for your program?
Speaker 4:
Um, and it's okay . I give away many of my tips cause not everyone can go to Lincoln, Nebraska to take the , the workup. And , and by the way, I give a shout out to Karen [inaudible] who is in the Chicago area , uh, runs a middle school program and Karen and I teach the workshop together. And over the years, what we found is we do almost the exact same thing. It just, she does it at the middle school level and I do it at the high school level. So , um, both of us feels really strongly about number one, design a logo. Um, and Brandon market your program. I find as the years go by, more of what I'm doing is really marketing and branding than fundraising. Because if you're marketing and branding your program really well, you don't have to worry about people coming to the shows. And when you're doing something, people are very generous to contribute because you're out in the community and like kids are really, really involved in all kinds of community activities and a lot of them don't necessarily pay anything. But a few years ago when we took a show to men , main stage at the international thespian festival and needed to raise an additional $50,000, the community already knew what we were doing and they knew what we were about. So that's, that's kind of my, my pitch is you've got to get out, you've got to run your program. Like it's a small business and you've got to get out of your program and get involved in the community or just sitting in the theater, directing your shows and doing what you're doing, which could be phenomenal is great, but no one's gonna come see it.
Speaker 3:
That's , that's good advice though. Um, I want to hear more about , uh, your involvement with thespians and the educational theater association. I know you just got back from , uh, Lincoln, Nebraska and , uh, I, I had a thespian troupe , uh , when I was in the , in the classroom. Um, I will admit we never went to nationals. We never did the, the, the festival. Um , and I was not very active in our state branch , uh, just for uh , various slew of reasons. But , um, talk to me about what that experience is like and, and what your students get out of that. Cause I know there are a lot of programs out there that have thespians and they're wondering if they should take that leap to do that.
Speaker 4:
Well, my , my journey with thespians actually started when I was in ninth grade and my high school program had a very active troop and I was inducted as a freshman and I was an officer for several years in my troop and we didn't go anywhere I had had and still have a great friendship with my high school director. Um, and we had did wonderful things, but he didn't take us anywhere. And so when I went to Hemet high school, my, the first thing I did is , uh , that year I, I brought the president of my drama club in kind of on the secret and we kept track of what kids were doing all year and that , and the banquet at the end of the year, we surprised all the parents and the kids by inducting kids into their first thespian troop . And so what I found those first few years is as a the only theater teacher in my entire district except for a junior high teacher. Um, thespians was my lifeline to everything I needed to do for my program. So getting to our state thespian leadership was by far the most important. Then going to state festival. And then after 10 years in teaching in the desert, I took over for my high school director. So the program that I'm at, this is, this will be our 58th year and it's only been overseen by two of us. So I came back to where I started. So it was always, it's always very easy to remember what my thespian troop number is. But what I say to people is it's , it's not about , um, you know, what, what you're the and that sort of thing. It's for the teacher. It's the collaboration with all those people. You know, we don't have 17 other English teachers to collaborate with. We don't get to go to a professional development at the district office with 22 people teaching history. So the collaboration and the friendship with the other theater teachers and then the importance of the kids seeing what other people are doing, making connections before they go off to college. Just I find that invaluable , especially before the world of social media. It was, it was really important, but this fans is, you know, in California across the country. That's how we know about our standards. That's how we know about what's happening. You know, an Arab Americans for the arts and politically and just, there's so many different layers and if you get your teeth , your kids and your parents involved in that, they're all going to be starting to look at what's happening with the arts and specifically theater in the country and all of a sudden look at your program through a different lens. So that's my thespian pitch.
Speaker 3:
Well, I'd love to hear about your , um, educational theater association pitch as well because I know you are really involved with , with that organization and they do amazing work across the country. Um, so what , uh, for, for those teachers who are not involved in that and who may only have a thespian troop but don't do anything with EDTA, what , what would you say to them and, and what, what does EDTA do for a teacher?
Speaker 4:
Um , well, let me just say my, my involvement happened through California thespians uh, 26 years ago, I got on the board of California investments when my first student was elected to the board and I served many years , um , through that way. And then I was really interested in more leadership. So for 11 years I was the California state SBN director and that got me connected to the other chapter directors across the country. And then I ran for the national board , uh , twice. So I'm currently serving on the second year of my, as of today, the second year of my second term. Um, again, EDTA is our , our voice nationally. Um, there are so many, so many great resources online and through EDTA events. For instance, there's an entire section of the website that can, that talks to you about advocacy, talks about the importance of theater that you can take to your school board. So you don't have to, no teacher has to put that together. You can, some teachers show that at back to school night in a wooden house if they're in a community where, you know , they have to really sell their program. Um, ADJ took the lead with national standards. Um , EDTA has connected us to our other arts organizations, our music friends and our dance and our visual art teachers and a lot of things some of those groups are doing. Um, you know, EDTA is looked at and found a different way to do that, addressing the needs of the theater teachers. So , um, that connection is incredibly important. Um, data for, you know, a lot of our administration, our superintendents are very data-driven as career and technical education. CTE has kind of bubbled back up, you know, from the old days of the hands on classes. Our tech classes are now the CTE hands on classes that a lot of people want our kids to get trained in, whether they're going to college or whether they're going straight into the workforce. So EDTA is Dell developed lots of resources for CTE and in two weeks the leadership of EDTA and the chapters will be in DC because we'll be doing a day of Americans for the arts training and then we'll go see, and in my case, hopefully a Kamala Harris and um, uh, Diane Feinstein and our local representatives and we'll get to talk to them about the importance of continuing to fund arts education national .
Speaker 3:
That's fantastic. That's fantastic. Thank you for the work you're doing on that. Um, I, I appreciate that. And I, in my classes that I teach now with my undergrads, I, I am constantly , um , reminding them about being advocates for theirselves advocate for their kids and their programs. But there's also a bigger, bigger picture nationally that they need to think you can think about as well. Um , in terms of when they vote , um, and contacting their representatives and their senators and , and EDTA provides a great , um, I don't want to say lobbying, but a , a great resource for , um, advocacy. Uh , right, right, right, right. Um, I I found you through , um, a the theater teacher bootcamp , um, advertisement popped up one day, I think it was in my Facebook feed if I'm not mistaken. And then I did a little more digging and I was like, that's something I want to take my undergrads to , to be a part of. It was too late this year for me to do that. Um, but, but definitely on my radar for future years to make a trip out to California for that. Talk to us a little bit about what you do with that.
Speaker 4:
Well, and this is where my partner in crime, gay Jones comes in. Um , and, and this is a, I think a perfect example of getting involved. The very first day, five years into teaching that I decided to leave my campus. I went to the first ever , um, California thespian student leadership day, 31 years ago. And it was held at gay school in orange County. And what that has evolved into is , um, and we do one in Northern California and Southern California, but it was a day to train our student leaders. And so after taking your thespian officers to something like this, they come back and you know, they can write a constitution for their troop , they can help you recruit, they know how to run a meeting, they know how to take minutes, you know, all those, all those things we want our kids to do. And I met gay and we've developed this great friendship and I still continue to learn from her every day I'm with her. But what we found is as educational theater leaders in California, between the two of us, we were getting daily emails from teachers. With so many questions , um , often about money, often about how the people's program was going to be cut administrator questions. And we kind of looked at each other one day and said, you know, maybe if we could gather some of these people together and just for a day in the summer, you know, maybe we could start to address some of these needs. So we wrote this , um, you know, what we wrote kind of what we thought people wanted. My school has been generous enough to host us for about the last nine or 10 years. And so what we've done is we've divided the two days into different segments. So we addressed the theater teacher as a person preventing burnout life outside of the theater. Um, you know, how to, how to balance family, family and um, job, the theater teachers , instructor. So we talk about time management, class management, curriculum, budget, creating a safe space, copyright, censorship, intellectual property , um, the theater teacher as an activist and a voice and empowering the teacher and thinking globally and advocating for your program, the theater teacher as a learner, what you didn't learn in college, dealing with parents, administration conferences and staff development professional organizations. I'm teaching to the standards and then the theater teacher as a company manager, CEO. And that's organizing and develop and keeping a theater program, social media, community involvement, recruiting, working with volunteers, promotion and marketing, fundraising and empowering students. And so we , we take them through this in in two days. And one of the things that we do in the very beginning as we've talked to them about goal setting and having a one three, five year plan and making sure they make an appointment with their principal and making sure their principal , um , knows what that plan is. So anytime they're having conversations with administration at the site or district level, the people that are talking to know their vision and they know where they're going. And then kind of accidentally what's become one of the highlights is we have an hour set aside where my own principal comes in and he always, you know , says, where are you from and what's your first name? And I will never repeat that. And then we just kind of agree that it's a cone of silence and he talks about what he wants to see in a successful theater program. And then he allows the participants to ask anything and often say, I can't get my principal to walk in the door of a show. How will you go? And you know, he could just give a couple of practical tips like saying, he says, I say no to teachers all day long, but saying no to a kid is really hard and saying no to a kid who shows up at my door and wife and I, you know, tickets to a production, almost impossible. So he just really talks about all the different tactics that are very practical. Cause he's a very, that's kind of person he is. And you know how you can make your principal look good cause he said ultimately that's what they're looking for, make the school look good. But then just really those, those practical approaches. He talks a lot about the relationship between the theater teacher and his administrative assistant. And he's like, if, if you do not treat her with respect and if you do not treat that person well you're not going to get in and see me. You know? And so just those kind of things that none of us learned in college, there was, there was no minute in my college theater ed preparation, you know, for a lot of these things. So that's kind of what we do and we're all learning from each other. Gay and I are taking notes for two days with everyone else and we come out with pages and pages of notes, sharing advice. We stay in touch. Um, we kind of have accountability buddies and we find that every year we have brand new teachers. And then we have some teachers who come back year after year after year and yet we all walk out with, with brand new information. So that's what it looks like.
Speaker 3:
And about how many , uh , our average on attendance,
Speaker 4:
it kind of depends on the year. We've, we've had 10 or 12, we've had up to 25. Um , it , we've tried, we've tried weekends in the summer. We've tried during the week. In the summer we've just tried a little bit of everything. But , um, usually we usually average about 15, which is perfect because we're in a conference room around conference table and very, very casual. Um, you know, some people stay locally, some people drive back and forth. So yeah. And it's worked out really well. I mean, I, I'm always excited by what my takeaways that sometimes the, some of the best nuggets come from someone that's just finished their first year teaching.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, no, I , I, like I said, I was very impressed with, with what I did see. And , um, I am hoping to stay in touch so that I can , um, come out next year and , and be a part of that just to see what you're doing and, and bring some, some of my undergrads out. Um, uh, what , uh, what do you see as the greatest need in your students right now or just students in general right now that we as theater teachers can help them with?
Speaker 4:
Well, I get very personal. I just finished school a couple of weeks ago and at the very, very end of the school year I knew if I announced a couple of my co-teachers, they'll help hold me accountable. Next year is probably my last year in the classroom. And I said, I think the Hill I'm going to die on next year is the phone Hill. And I was always a teacher that it, it didn't bother me that when students had their phone in classes because they were engaged enough that they didn't use them. And last year for the first time in my career, I really had trouble getting kids off the phone. And we just had our last big show in early June. And I made this big speech the morning of opening night to all my kids talking about , um, you know, specifically we're doing the little mermaid. So I said, you know, we're gonna have lots of little kids there. And I said this could be their first experience with live theater and you know, to kind of reminded them the whole whatever's happening each night. That's the only time that's being experienced in the , in our lifetime. It's us cast crew, the audience in that moment. And I really want to work on my students putting away the electronic device and, and the teachers and committing to be fully engaged all the time. And when there's a time that we need it , I have no problem pulling it out. But I think , um , I didn't, I didn't want to jump on the social media is what is causing all the ills of our teenagers bandwagon. But in this last year, seeing what's happening with our students. And I, I haven't talked to a single theater teacher all year who wasn't touched by a student's suicide. And I just think we really need to back up and try to get kids engaging one-on-one in person, less texting to communicate a little bit more face to face. And I, and I hope we can, I, you know, just in my small way, just find a way to have kids understand how to communicate a little better in person so that , that's going to be mine. I don't know if that's , that's going to solve anything, but I'm going to, I'm going to give it a try.
Speaker 3:
I , I have , uh , uh, I pick on my oldest daughter all the time. Well , my middle one as well, that their , their phones are attached to their hands and their thumbs are probably the strongest , uh, muscle and bone in their body. And , uh, it , uh , you know, I was like, well, why don't you just call your friend sometime? And they're like, Ooh , why would I do that? I could just send a message or send a picture. I'm like, okay. And the other night I heard my oldest daughter in her room on the phone with her friend and I'm like, she's hearing a voice or she's even seeing a face and hearing a voice. So there's some kind of interaction happening. But I get that. And I struggled with that my last couple of years of teaching. Um, cause it was, it's a challenge. And then when the school, and I'm not, I'm not bashing the school itself, but the school says they're going to have it in their hands. So find a way to use it as much as you can. I get that. But at the same time, theater's a perfect place to disconnect and reconnect as humans. Right.
Speaker 4:
And, and I what I also you and I know that , um, tone, oftentimes I find myself rereading an email, especially when you're dealing with parents and parents that are upset. I, I've ever really learned to inject humor into the response. And I've also learned to , you know, inject instances where all three of my own kids went through my own program. And, you know, I will share, you know, one of my own kids didn't make musical theater one year and I, that was hard and one of my own kids didn't make the comedy sports team. So, you know, by bite , rereading for tone, that changes then the conversation, it helps diffuse situations and too often the text messaging and just some of the lack of , uh , communication in a, in a personal level is harder. And I think that's where a lot of the kids have trouble then when they're trying to deal with in person conversations. So we'll see. We'll see how that goes this year.
Speaker 3:
Oh , well, speaking of your family , um, I, in my research about you, I found that you have a whole family of theater folk and that , um, even your kids are very involved and , and , and have theatrical careers and are studying it. Um, so can you talk a little bit about that and what w what life was like at home with , uh, with mom who's a theater teacher and theater kids all the time?
Speaker 4:
Sure. Um, and, and their dad has , has , um, a degree in theater from UCLA. And is on a local theater board. He is worked in aerospace his whole life. But , um, you know, we'll jump at the chance to design lights for a show or , you know , come help out whenever possible. Um, actually I just, I just talked to somebody at Lincoln last week because they were asking me about, you know, what to do with their little kid. And I said, well, you know, mine really grew up in the theater and it, it worked out for us. Um, I had a, I taught for seven years without having kids. And then when my oldest was born, she spent a lot of time , um, even even her very first show, she was in the little Bessonet under the light board during bye bye birdie. And she was eight weeks old. So , um, and then three years later we had identical twins. And so that took us from one to three and they all spent time in the theater. Um, they probably saw shows that most kids didn't see. I mean, they saw Dracula and little shop when they were five. Um, um, they all grew up and , um , not by any encouragement, just by happenstance, they all majored in theater at various colleges. And my oldest , uh, did a paid internship and costuming at Disney right after she graduated from Hofstra and then that worked into a job in costuming. So she has spent the last seven years at Disney and was about to open the new star Wars land. So that's very exciting. And then , um, I have one twin who is an equity stage manager , um , working on a brand new show out here and also a , she's a light designer. And then , um, her twin is a scenic painter and specifically a great costumer and a great scenic designer and is working on a Shakespeare festival that's running out here right now. So , um , I'd like to believe it didn't hurt them. Um , secretly I'm very excited. They're not actors because as technicians they're always working. Um, but I would've, I would've supported an actor also. So when we get together , um, the conversations do turn to theater. We have a niece that's getting married later this summer and her wedding is on a Monday because she's an actress and so much of , so many of her friends will be available on a Monday. So there's a lot of cousins , um, that are very, very involved. And my husband's brother is a Broadway and film composer and orchestrator, so it runs through the whole family.
Speaker 3:
All right . Um, I, my, my middle, my middle daughter is a , she's very involved in, in her theater program at her, at her junior high school. And uh, she and the oldest one were going to audition , uh , two years ago together for their Peter pan that they were doing. And she, they initially asked me to help them with their audition material. And so I was doing that and then all of a sudden they were like, Hmm , you don't know what you're talking about. And so they wouldn't let me help them anymore. So I just think it's funny, I love hearing family stories about, you know , how theater in the family. So
Speaker 4:
now I will say though, it was, it was, it was very healthy for me. I was a long time water polo mom and I'm a swim team mom. And my kids were also involved, very heavily involved in band. Being a band parent was the hardest. But um, so that was great. So that was very good for me on my own campus that I, you know, worked the snack shack at water polo and you know, got to, got to do other things. But that just made me grateful. I think for going back into the theater though.
Speaker 3:
Well as busy as you are , um, uh, and I know you , you in your theater teacher bootcamp, you, you deal with the , the teacher as a person and um, how to avoid burnout. And so how do you take care of yourself?
Speaker 4:
Well, I have a, first of all, I have a group of friends at school that do not teach individual performing department and I'm very, very close with them and I walk very regularly with the two of them. So I think having non , for me, having non theater teacher friends that still support what I'm doing and understand what I'm doing is very, very important. Um, I also , um , really enjoy working on local political campaigns. It's also kind of a , a nice thing when you're needing support. Um, I have, I worked on all five sitting school board members campaigns and I was very active in the RLA city council campaign. So I'm , I find that rewarding. I would do more of it if I had the time. Um, and I mean, my number one relaxation is I have a great pool and I go, I devour horrible horror mystery novels in the pool, usually 90 minutes, two hours a day, whenever I can get out there. So that's , that's just what works for me.
Speaker 3:
Good deal. Good deal. Well, can you tell me one or two of your favorite stories over the course of your career? Whether a funny story, a horror story or a , one of the most meaningful moments that impacted you?
Speaker 4:
Oh my goodness. Um,
Speaker 5:
[inaudible]
Speaker 3:
and I know that's a hard question because you probably have tons of them.
Speaker 4:
I do, but I'm okay. One just popped into my mind. Um, we are at a high school with a great many , um, special needs students. Our district has an entire school that's special needs and the kids move through junior high and high school with um, it , you know, in, in the population of all the students. And so our children's theater class often has up to 15 or 18 kids with , um, you know, some down syndrome. Some kids are developmentally disabled. Everything. And our theater that we had for about 40 years , um, the stage was only accessible if it came in through certain doors they could not get from the house to the stage. And we had a grant written, it was for a current technical education expansion a few years ago and it was a $3 million grant to renovate the theater. And one of the things it did is it took from the very front door all the way to the stage was completely a handicap accessible. And it was April and the theater was officially opened and the first group to each class was going to get to walk through the theater. And the first kid I had walked through the theater was one of my seniors that I had in children's theater for four years who used a Walker. And I allowed her to be the first person to walk through the doors of the lobby and we all followed her through the house, through the ramp, right up on stage. And that was the very first time she been able to go from the house to the stage with everybody else. And I have pictures of her doing that because I just think that to me then the renovation and you know, great seats and a fantastic lobby, a phenomenal costume shop for our 10,000 costumes, it really matter to her. She was just able to go from the house to the lobby like everybody else. So that's one of my, my prize prize memories. Um, I, I think just when I get a random text, like there's a, there's a guy in Northern California that was my best being president that has gone on to do a Silicon Valley startup. And just out of the blue, he'll send me a text and say, I'm just reminding you that every single day I am learning, I'm using everything that I learned in theater. And I couldn't do this without sorry, without, you know, without your support or, you know, just running into a parent that says the exact same thing. So , um, and that happened. That seems to happen more and more as the years go by and older as the, as the kids get older, they really realize that the collaboration and the problem solving and um, you know, the teamwork, just, you know, someone has five kids and she's like, Oh my gosh, it's like putting together a rehearsal schedule for my family. And it's like, yep . So,
Speaker 3:
yeah, those random texts are really, really actually very meaningful and very powerful when they come in and it's like, and they always come in at just the moment I need them.
Speaker 4:
That's right. Well , I'm leaving the theater at 1120. I've gotta be back at 7:00 AM wa wait, what , why am I doing this? There is no math teacher insight .
Speaker 3:
Um, well, what is a resource that you use or have used in the past that is a must have for theater teachers?
Speaker 4:
Um, in the early days , um, I was , um, it was very helpful for me to have the , um, Oh, I'm embarrassed, I'm not remembering the name. Bob and Marty Fowler are retired theater teachers from st Louis, Missouri and they put together , um, a DVD, a technical theater series. That was amazing. And when I was a one person department and I was questioning some of my technical theater skills, I started off the year with those and they came with worksheets and they've since expanded to want to stage management and costuming and theater safety. So I think if you're isolated and not able to have a lot of tech resources, those are , um, absolutely wonderful. Um, and now, now I think with the , the online Facebook groups , um, the EDTA community, it's an online community where you can ask questions. You do not have to be a member of EDTA to be a part of that. But if you go back to the archives and you want to know , um, you know how to retrofit your black box theater , um, I have 16 girls and two boys and I need a comedy. Um , just any question that could possibly be asked. Um, you get multiple answers. So I think these days the EDTA community and the Facebook groups have become almost replaced , um , the paper versions. Um, although last year I, I came across Joe deer's amazing musical theater book and I was, I was piloting a new show freaky Friday and I just wanted to approach it in an all new way. And so I read that book cover to cover and um, found it really valuable for my musical theater students. So I love finding new resources for my own kids.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I think we all do. So thank you for sharing that. My final question for you is, what are your parting words of wisdom to new teachers coming into this field or even veteran teachers who just need to be a little , uh, have an uplifting moment right now?
Speaker 4:
Um, I think , um, for new teachers , um , it is the best job in the world. Um, teachers connect and stay connected with their students, but performing arts teachers seem to just have a lifelong relationship with their mentors , um, that like no one else. Um, you know, it just, we , we really continue to become colleagues and friends for many, many, many years and that is exciting. Um, I , I think my, and my other words of wisdom for a new teacher is ask for help and um, don't be afraid to just step back and take a little time for yourself. Um, I think for my veteran colleagues, it's, in some ways it's harder because , um, we , we know we , we know when it gets hard and we know sometimes how frustrating it can be, but it's almost the same advice. Um, try something new. Look at what you're doing every year and sometimes something you think is the most important the kids could care less about and it's okay to drop things and it's okay to try new things. Those teenagers can be, they can be a tough crowd. It's, it's really hard to try new things or to say, you know what, I love this, but it's just not working for this program at this time and just set it aside. So I think reinventing and um, you know, keeping it fresh is, is important. And then you feel like you're, I'm still learning. And number one advice I learned when I became an IB theater teacher, be the facilitator. It's okay to say, I have no idea, but I'm going to go out and find out that answer or I have no idea and let's go find out together because that will , nothing will endear you more to your students more than to be like, I am , I have no clue what the history of Boone recoup puppetry is and I'm supposed to be teaching you. Let's go find out. [inaudible]
Speaker 3:
that's right. That's right. I remember hearing that same advice when I was doing my, when I was becoming a IB certified to teach that and taking those, the training and all that. So I thank you for echoing that again. I appreciate that. Uh, well Krista , thank you so much for talking with me today. I really, really appreciate it and , uh, I I wish you all the best with the feeder theater teacher bootcamp this summer and hopefully I'll be able to join you next year. Um,
Speaker 4:
thank you so much. Your kids are really lucky to have you gathering up all while curating all this , uh, advice from people. So I look forward to continuing a relationship
Speaker 2:
with you and your students. Absolutely. Thank you so much and hope you have a great rest of your summer. Thank you. Alright , bye . Bye. Lots of great information there for you from Krista Carson L hi. Thank you so much Krista , for joining me and I looked
Speaker 3:
or to staying in touch with you and seeing what are you doing with your students the rest of this year. And , uh , uh, again, I thank you for all your contributions to theater education so far in your wonderful long career. Thank you for listening. Uh , we have a lot of great more episodes coming up your way. I do hope you check them out and that you stay with us. If you've missed some in the past, now's your chance to catch those and catch up. Um , binge listened to them. Uh, listen to them in your cars. You're going to work while you're on your , the treadmill or the elliptical at the gym or just sitting relaxing. Um, I don't know if my voice is something that relaxes you and that you enjoy listening to, but I do appreciate you checking out the interviews and hearing what my, my guests have to say on this show. You can interact with me on social media and uh , I love when, when, when you all do that, you can find us on twitter@theateredtalksontumblerthreadtalksdottumblr.com on Facebook in the fed talks group, Instagram at fed talks podcast and of course my website, www.fedtalks.com where you can find all of the past episodes, all of the , uh , transcripts from the shows and all of the resource lists from all the teachers who have been guests on this show. So check that out. If you haven't done that, it also, if you have not gone on your favorite podcast provider and subscribed rated and reviewed the show and more importantly share the show with people who are out there who you think could benefit from what we're doing here. There's theater educators in your life, then shame on you. If you could take care of that for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Go on any of your favorite providers, Apple podcasts, iTunes, Google podcast, Google play, Spotify, Stitcher, any pod and tune in. We are out there on all of them and of course the website, www.fedtalks.com. Thanks for listening. Thank you Joel Hamlin and Joshua Schusterman for you . Use of your original music magnetize and flip the record that we use here on the show. I hope you teachers are enjoying the last few weeks here before winter break and that you are keeping those kids engaged, that you are staying engaged, that you're having fun and that you are taking care of yourselves. I know most of you, if you're like me, you're gearing up and making those final preps or even beginning
Speaker 2:
initial rehearsals for your musical or other big spring shows you are doing that. I wish you and your students all the best do. I know you are looking forward to that break. Just as I am with my students, we are wrapping up with exams and uh, 16 teachers that rep are wrapping things up and they've had a wonderfully successful semester. Um, so I'm really proud of all my students. Thank you to my students who do listen. A plus plus for all of you, this has been Jimmy Chrisman . I hope you have a wonderful week. Take care of yourselves.
