NATASHA TOLLESON

Mrs. Natasha Tolleson is the head of the Temple High School Theatre Arts Department. Her classes include Dramatic Literature, Dramatic Design, Special Needs Theatre, Theatre Production, Acting I and Advanced Acting.

In the annual UIL one-act play contest, her teams have been named District Co-Champions and advanced to the area contest for the past 18 years in a row. No other UIL team at Temple High School holds such a record.

In 2007, her team won the UIL 5A State Championship with Ruthless!. In 2008, her team was named Second Runner-Up at state with Valhalla and in 2001 was Second Runner-Up with The Marriage of Bette and Boo. In 2010, her team was a State Finalist (Top 8 in Texas). Her teams have been the alternate advancing school to the state competition (Top 12 in Texas) seven times.

In three 5A one-act state competitions (2007-08-09), her students have received five of the nine top awards given to individual actors. Her students were named Best Performer in Texas (Samuel French Award) (twice), Best Actor in Texas (twice) and Best Actress in Texas.

Her students have entered the UIL Dramatic Design competition every year it's been in existence, and have advanced to the state finals each time. In 2008, the team was named the State Champion in UIL Group Dramatic Design from all five conferences (1A-5A). In 2009, the team won fourth place in the state. In 2010, Temple High School has more state finalists (six) than any other school in Texas, and the team won fourth place in the state. 

In International Thespian Society competition, she has had over 100 students advance from state to the international contest. Her students have been named International Champions five times -- Theatre Marketing (2009), Stage Management (2009), Publicity Design (2008), Group Musical (2008) and Scenic Design (2004).

At the 2009 Texas State Thespian Festival, she had three students cast in the "All State Show" that will be performed at the 2010 convention. Only one other high school in the entire state had more students cast.

Mrs. Tolleson's former students have furthered their theatre education at the University of Evansville, New York University, Emerson, UCLA, University of North Carolina, Julliard, Duke, Webster, Marymount Manhattan, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, University of Texas, Texas State University, Sam Houston, American Academy of Dramatic Art New York, Brigham Young University and many others. Temple High School graduates are working professionally in such cities as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, including Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago) and other live theatre, television, movies, MTV and "The Whitest Kids U'Know" comedy sketch troupe.

Mrs. Tolleson holds a bachelor of arts degree in theatre from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She is a certified International Baccalaureate Theatre Teacher and was named a "Master Teacher" by the University of Texas at Austin.

RACHEL AKER

Ms. Rachel Aker teaches Children's Theatre, Introduction to Theatre and IB (International Baccalaureate) Introduction to Theatre. This is her second year to teach at Temple High, although she participated in theatre all four years when she was a student at Temple.

She holds a bachelor of arts degree in communication arts (with an emphasis in theatre) from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. She also holds a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from the same school.

While at college, Ms. Aker received two different fellowships, one in technical theatre and one as a research fellowship. She performed as an actress and also worked many technical jobs including paint shop supervisor, costume shop supervisor, scenic painter and stage manager.

She is a member of Alpha Psi Omega, an honorary national theatre society (which originally started the International Thespian Society for high school students).

ADAM KENNARD

Mr. Adam Kennard teaches Stagecraft and Introduction to Theatre, and is the Technical Director for the newly-renovated Temple High School Auditorium. He participated in theatre all four years that he attended Temple High School. This is his first year as a teacher at Temple High.

He holds a bachelor of science degree in secondary education (with an emphasis in speech communication) from Mississippi State University, where he graduated cum laude. His student teaching was at Tupelo (MS) High School under the supervision of Debby Gibbs, the President of the Educational Theatre Association (parent organization of the International Thespian Society).

While at Mississippi State, Mr. Kennard was very active in the Beta Epsilon Chi (Brothers Under Christ) fraternity, serving as a founding father of the Mississippi State chapter and vice-president of the chapter. He also served on the executive committee of the Campus Activities Board, responsible for bringing entertainment to campus.