-: I just feel so lucky, a, that there was a job for me
because full-time drama teaching jobs are not,
they're few and far between.
Most drama teachers that I know are also an English teacher
or social studies teacher or somebody who
rounds out their job with one of the core academics.
The fact that it exists is pretty great.
And I also work at a school with a really wonderful faculty.
This is very specific to my job
and I have just been really blessed to work with
a wonderful listener as a boss,
and like I mentioned before,
my team of other faculty members
who work together to put on these shows.
But in general, I really love working with children.
I love the cyclical nature of teaching
that every September you kind of hit the reset button.
But if you're intentional about it,
you can make tweaks to your curriculum or your process,
your rehearsal process, every year to make it
a little bit better, and if it doesn't go so well,
you hit the reset button in September.
And there's something really refreshing about that pattern,
that annual pattern.
I love it.
99.9% of the parents are wholly supportive
of me and are...
They show up with snacks for the kids
and they make my life easier
and really support their kids by supporting me
and the program that I'm trying to direct.
There is a very teeny percentage of squeaky wheels
who feel entitled to
a certain kind of treatment
and it depends on a case-to-case basis.
And that's where I get into, oh well, they are paying
x amount of dollars in tuition.
To certain extent they're our customer.
But that can be tricky.
Again, maybe once a year I kind of have a sticky situation
with a parent where I either feel like I need to compromise
on something, or make a choice
that I wouldn't normally make.
But those challenges can be fun.
I hope I get a little better at them each year. (laughs)