Without having two of the three theater teachers for much of the school year, the theater department has had its share of challenges this year.

Students in the musical theater and technical theater classes have not had a permanent teacher for several months during the fall semester and received their instruction from a series of substitutes. That all ended in January, when two new permanent theater teachers made their debut and got to work and created bonds with students eagerly awaiting their arrival.

Elizabeth Holley, who has previously taught as a middle school teacher in Hurst, Texas, said she is excited to be at Akins because she believes the school values its Fine Arts programs.

“I liked Akins because they had a big fine arts program,” she said. “And I could see that they prioritized their fine arts and I want to be a theater teacher to work somewhere like that. And also, I wanted to work somewhere in Austin ISD because I had heard a lot of good things about it.”

Holley, who has been involved with theater since she was 15, said she loves it because she feels like it’s one of the best ways that we can express ourselves.

“It’s a great way to learn about the world around you through theater and to learn about your peers. And I think that it is also really important because the entertainment industry is so big, especially here in Austin. So I think it’s something really important that we learned about because even if you don’t go on to become an actor, you will one day like or everyday people interact with the entertainment industry through Netflix or YouTube or whatever it is.”

Holley said her students are excited to be able to do some real theater and go down to the tech shop and work on musicals like Freaky Friday.

“Getting to know all the students that way was really fun,” she said. “Spending a lot of time together before and after school during the weekends just to put on shows has been really fun.”

Morgan Podojil is new to teaching after graduation and completing student teaching at another high school and middle school during the fall semester.

Podojil said they are excited to work at Akins because of its diversity, which is something to which they respond well.

“I was really excited about being able to teach musical theater because I really love musical theater. And I did not think that it was possible to teach musical theater in high school. And so I’m so happy that it is.”

Podojil said they love teaching theater because it is like a class that has “all of the subjects rolled up into one.”

“If you like math, there’s a place for math. If you like history, there’s a place for history. Right? If you like robotics as a place for robotics, there is a little bit of every single subject rolled up into theater. Do you like analyzing literature? There’s a place for you here.”