Tag Archives: Performing Arts Teachers

Retired music teacher Rushia Stephens passes away from coronavirus

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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.

Choir Director Amy Eden describes life lessons her students learn

Posted on by

Music Educator and choir director Amy Eden describes life lessons her students learn from participating in her program.

Today I would like to spotlight  music educator and choir director Amy Eden. She teaches at Corona High School in Corona, California. I met Amy when she brought her Madrigals to perform at the monthly meeting of the California Retired Teachers Association, Division 80, last Friday.

During the Madrigals’ performance, Amy chatted with the audience about the life lessons her students learn from their involvement in her music program. What Amy teaches her students in addition to music is impressive!

The students travel from venue to venue within the city, she noted, and the acoustics of each venue varies greatly. The students must instantly adapt to the unique sound properties of each venue. She also mentioned that when the group experiences unexpected absences in its members, those who are present must adjust their volume to compensate for those missing voices. The chalkboard champion conducted an impromptu on-the-spot survey of the students, which revealed that many of the students pursue other interests in addition to choir. These interests include theater, sports, Advanced Placement courses, learning to play an instrument, and working at jobs outside of school. “So they really have to learn time management,” Amy pointed out.

Amy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Vocal/Choral Education at California State University, Fullerton. While there, she studied conducting, participated in the Chamber Singers, the University Singers, and joined the ACDA Student Chapter. Amy also earned a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the American College of Education in 2016. She has taught at Corona High since 2003. Prior to accepting her position there, she taught for one year at Terra Cotta Middle School in Lake Elsinore, California.

In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Amy performs in and directs local Broadway musicals and she sings for her church.

Choir teacher Kaitlin Holt: The Chalkboard Hero of Saugus High School

Posted on by

Choir teacher Kaitlin Holt: The Chalkboard Hero of Saugus High School.

The backbone of any school is the teachers, who sometimes act in incredibly heroic ways. This was proven true when a troubled student opened fire on his classmates at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, on Fri., Nov. 15. One of the Chalkboard Heroes of that day was choir teacher Kaitlin Holt.

Kaitlin was teaching a class when five students suddenly bolted inside her classroom, claiming there was an active shooter outside. One of the students had been shot in two places. The quick-thinking educator grabbed a gunshot wound kit and immediately began to address the injured student’s wounds. Then she directed the students to block the doors to her classroom with rolling mirrors and a grand piano. She told them to turn off their phones, turn off the lights, and take shelter in her office.

Outside the choir room, the 16-year-old shooter killed two of his classmates, wounded three others, and then turned the gun on himself. He later died from his self-inflicted wounds.

Kaitlin says the staff received training for an active shooter situation last January. She insists she’s not a hero, she just reacted. But being required to instantly shift from being a teacher to being a paramedic was tough. “That should not be part of the teacher’s job,” she asserted. “I should not feel like I needed to be trained like a paramedic to save someone’s life and deal with the consequences of that.”

In spite of the trauma of that day, the heroic teacher is ready to return to her classroom. She says she wants her classroom to be a safe space for students, and she wants to be there for them. “I’m ready to do whatever my students need me to do,” she declared. “I want to help them rebuild.”

To read more about Kaitlin, click on this link to KTLA Channel 5.