Tag Archives: Performing Arts Teachers

Wilma Melson Grant authors guide to theater programs

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Retired elementary school teacher Wilma Melson Grant of San Pablo, California, has published an informative guide to running successful theater arts programs. Photo credit: Delta Kappa Gamma, International.

Many excellent educators are often more than willing to share their expertise with colleagues. This is true of Wilma Melson Grant, a retired elementary school teacher and theater arts director from California who has just published a guide book for establishing and running successful theater arts programs in the schools.

Elementary school teachers or parents of an elementary school student who love the theater but have no theatrical experience would benefit greatly from consulting the newly released book, entitled Children’s Theater: Setting Their Spirits Free!  Wilma authored the guide to give assistance to colleagues and others involved organizing and running a children’s drama program. In the volume, Wilma gives information for teaching students how to write their own script from their favorite book, and how to go on to write their own version of popular stories. She shows fellow teachers how to integrate drama and theater into their classrooms by providing tested strategies. She also shows how to assess and organize the skills of parents and faculty members into the essential roles of building and supporting a drama club.

Prior to her retirement, Wilma taught for many years at Tara Hills Elementary School in San Pablo, California. There she established and directed the Drama Club in 1990 as a response to multiple budget cuts which decimated arts programs in the schools.

For the many years she dedicated to working with theater arts programs in public schools, Wilma has earned many accolades. She has been inducted into Delta Kappa Gamma International, an organization that supports women educators. In addition, she garnered the KPIX5 San Francisco Jefferson Award in 2013. The Jefferson Awards are awarded at both national and local levels. Local winners are individuals who engage in extraordinary public service work without the expectation of recognition. This was especially true of Wilma, who continued her work of bringing a fully-formed drama program to school sites, even after she retired from the classroom.

To purchase Wilma’s book, click on this link to amazon.com or this link to Barnes and Noble. Enjoy!

Music educator Ken Tuttle once performed with notable celebrities

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Ken Tuttle

California music educator Ken Tuttle once performed with notable celebrities. (Photo credit: San Bernardino Sun)

Many excellent music educators have also earned fame as performers. One of these was Ken Tuttle, a choir teacher from California, who also performed with notable celebrities.

Ken was born on July 28, 1952, in Painesville, Ohio. As a youngster, he attended Western High School in Las Vegas. After his high school graduation, Ken earned his undergraduate degree from Chapman University in Orange, California He earned his Master’s degree in Music with an emphasis in Choral Conducting Performance from the the University of Nevada, Reno.

Ken’s career as a teacher of the performing arts spanned 37 years. He worked at schools in Reno, Las Vegas, Anaheim, and finally settled at Redlands High School in San Bernardino County, California. There he served as the Chair of the Vocal Music Department for 24 years, until his retirement in 2015. In addition to teaching choir, Ken taught piano and music theory classes, and he was involved in many theater productions. Many of his students were Special Education students. Ken escorted his students to prestigious competitions and festivals, where the groups often earned first-place trophies and gold medals

For his work in the classroom, Ken garnered the Outstanding Choral Music Educator of the Year by the California Music Educators Association in 2012. In 2016, he was named a Hero of the Arts by the Redlands Community Music Association. Ken frequently served as an adjudicator or guest clinician for festivals, honor choirs, and all-state choirs throughout the Western United States. He also served a stint as the President of the Southern California Vocal Association.

Not only was Ken an outstanding classroom educator, but he was also a sought-after musician. He served as a soloist with the William Hall Chorale, touring all over Europe. He also sang in a choir that performed back-up vocals for Barry Manilow and Paul Anka.

Ken Tuttle passed away on December 8, 2020, in Highland, California. To read more about him, see this article published in the San Bernardino Sun.

Retired music teacher Rushia Stephens passes away from coronavirus

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Retired choral music teacher Rushia Stephens of Atlanta, Georgia, passed away from coronavirus on March 19, 2020.

Sadly, many outstanding educators have succumbed to the coronavirus. One of these is Rushia Stephens, a retired teacher from Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia. Rushia passed away on March 19, 2020. She was only 65 years old.

Rushia was born September 7, 1954. As a teenager, Rushia was one of the first black students to attend what was known then as Northside School of Performing Arts. After her graduation, she went on to study first at Morris Brown College in Sumter, South Carolina, and then at Ithaca School of the Arts in New York. There she sang alto soprano and performed in the theater. She also was a  member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Vocal Music Performance in 1974.

After earning her Bachelor’s degree, Rushia returned home, where she taught choral music for many years at her alma mater, which by then had become North Atlanta High School. During that time she also earned a Master’s degree in Music Education from Georgia State University in 1992.

Rushia’s career with Atlanta Public Schools spanned 28 years.The dynamic educator will be remembered fondly by her former students. “From the first moment that you met her, she commanded the room,” remembers Zipporah Taylor, one of those former students. “She had a beautiful smile. I remember being a freshman and receiving my first solo in the Messiah and just thinking how she was giving me all of these tips and said,  ‘Darling, you must perform–the stage is yours!'”

After her retirement as an educator, Rushia went back to teaching music at Montclair Elementary School in DeKal. She busies herself with organizing plays and musical performances for younger students.

To read more about this amazing educator, see this link at the Atlantic Journal.

Detroit teacher, poet, and radio host Brenda Perryman passes from Covid-19

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Detroit teacher, poet, and radio show host Brenda Perryman passes away from Covid-19.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of several beloved educators. One of them is Brenda Perryman, a well-known performing arts teacher, poet, and radio personality from Detroit, Michigan.

Brenda earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Speech, Dramatic Arts, and Education from Eastern Michigan University. During her undergraduate years, she joined the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Upon graduation, Brenda inaugurated her career as an educator. She taught English, speech, and drama from 1970 to 1988 at Highland Park High School. She then transferred to Southfield High School, where she taught from 1988 to 2010. She also served as the Chair of the Fine Arts Department there. She retired in 2010.

In her retirement, Brenda flourished as a poet, playwright, and a radio show host. Her program, Talk 2 Me with Brenda Perryman, was broadcast on Comcast 20/TV33 WHPR. On her show, she regularly championed local educators, writers, artists, and others. In addition, she served as a speaker for Procter & Gamble’s nationwide show Total You Tour, which was shared with thousands of young women on college campuses and in urban convention venues. She also performed as a featured poet for programs honoring Sidney Poitier and Maya Angelou. She was also a published poet. Her volumes of poetry include Mood Swings and Magic Carpet Rides, Moods for You, and Tender Ravings.

Brenda became well-known in Detroit as an educational speaker on women’s  issues, domestic violence, diabetes, and using poetry as a means of catharsis. She garnered several Spirit of Detroit awards. She was also recognized by the local NAACP chapter as its Most Outstanding Member.

Sadly, Brenda succumbed to Covid-19 on April 5, 2020. She was 71 years old. You can read more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion in the obituary published by the Detroit Free Press.

Iowa’s Phyllis Love: Talented educator and successful actress

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Talented educator and former successful  actress Phyllis Love of Des Moines, Iowa.

There are many fine educators who enjoyed success in the entertainment industry before they became classroom teachers One of these was Iowa’s Phyllis Love, a television actress who also taught drama and English.

Phyllis was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on December 21, 1925. Her parents were both small business owners. Her father owned a food market and her mother owned and managed a small restaurant. As a youngster, Phyllis attended first Perkins Elementary School, then Callanan Junior High School, and finally Theodore Roosevelt High School, all in Des Moines. While in high school, one of Phyllis’s close friends was actress Chloris Leachman.

Once she graduated from high school in 1944, Phyllis attended the School of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. She earned her Bachelor’s degree there in 1948.

After college, Phyllis relocated to New York, where she honed her skills as an actress at the Actors Studio. Paul Newman and Marlon Brando were her classmates. Her talent earned her roles on Broadway and in the movies. She performed in The Rose Tattoo (1950), The Country Girl (1950), The Friendly Persuasion (1956), The Egghead (1957), A Distant Bell (1959), and Flowering Cherry (1959), and The Young Doctors (1961). She also performed in numerous roles on television, including appearances on Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The FBI, and Twilight Zone.

After Phyllis retired from acting in the 1970’s, she launched herself into her career as an educator. She taught Drama and English for 15 years at Morningside High School in Inglewood, California.

Sadly, in her later years, this talented educator and actress suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. She passed away on October 30, 2011, in Menifee, California. She was 85 years old. To read her obituary, see this link to the New York Times.