After Hughson High’s former drama teacher, Mr. Thompson, retired, some people have been wondering who the new drama teacher is. In this article, we will learn about him through this interview, discover how effectively he has been teaching through a student, and even learn why he was hired by Lighthall. Keep reading to find out what wonderful things our new drama teacher has in store!
The teacher mentioned above goes by the name of Eric Anderson, and he is fifty-seven years old. He works at Hughson High School and is the drama teacher here. He has had a long history of teaching. He started out as a Spanish teacher, and after 8 years, he took a long hiatus. Before working here at Hughson High, he was a teacher at Hickman Charter School as a choir teacher. Anderson has worked with our school for the past ten years as a volunteer, this year was his first year being hired as an official staff member. Outside of Hughson High School, Anderson also helps set up financial accounts for school teachers when he is not teaching students.
When asked how working here at Hughson has been for him, he said, “Oh, it’s great. You know, it’s a lot of fun. The faculty is very supportive… I’ve worked with a lot of these kids already as an acting coach.”
He mentioned how he is trying to transition the way Mr. Thompson used to teach into his method of teaching. Knowing students before teaching here at Hughson High has helped with this transition. Through using Stephan Covey’s principles of working, he teaches students how to work together as leaders instead of fully relying on him or others, being interdependent. When asked what he has taught in particular so far, he stated, “You ask them all, what are the habits? We’ve covered five to seven habits so far, talking about how to use those habits. I want to help them see that they have more control over their lives than society tries to tell them, and also maybe have some fun and be able to see things in a different light.” Alongside the impactful reasoning for why he teaches, he also had this to say, “I’m here in my office doing my work because I want to make sure the choreographers can do the leadership. If I sit out there, then everyone looks at me for help, so if I come in here, but I have my door open, my students are looking to one another for leadership and working with each other rather than looking to me.”
What made Mr. Anderson decide to teach drama? When asked this question, Anderson said, “High school, actually. When I was in high school, I did my first ever show. A friend of mine already had the auditions and I just didn’t want to pay attention, but another friend of mine was already cast. I picked up his script one day during lunch and since I knew the play from the movie, I started reading all the parts and caricature voices. And he said, ‘Wait a minute. We need one more person, you should come down and audition.’ And that’s where it all started. Once the bug bites, man, it gets the blood, alright.”
Besides Mr. Anderson’s love for acting, he also loves teaching others about it. In his words, he said, “I love helping actors discover their character, little moments, you know, things they might not have seen before.”
To end the interview, Mr. Anderson gave some advice to anyone wanting to pursue acting. He said, “One of my teachers once said that acting is so fun that if it were easy, everyone would do it. I always thought that he meant actually doing acting was challenging. I think he meant that, but also for professionals, you know? It’s a difficult industry to get into professionally, but there are a lot of things you can do in theater that don’t involve acting. Painting, designing, lighting, custom, you know? It doesn’t have to be professional. There are a lot of people, community theaters, college, high schools, we have that come together and just have enjoyment of being able to work together and put together something that’s really special and fun. I guess, advice-wise, excellence is worth the price… If you’re dependent, your behavior is dependent. If you’re procrastinating, whining, complaining, blaming others, and manipulating, your performance will be cringey.”
All of Mr. Anderson’s responses were great and heartfelt, but what about the students who are being taught by him? I wanted to get some insight from somebody who has actually experienced the class.
The student I interviewed was ninth grader Kora Millard. She has been in drama since sixth grade. When asked about how she feels about Mr. Anderson, Millard said, “I love him. He reminds me a lot of my past drama teachers that I’ve had, and they were all amazing. I think he’s my favorite.” She also spoke about how she enjoys being a part of the school’s play. She enjoys that she has been given set lines and things to do, while still being given freedom to make the character her own, interpret the character how she pleases, and get to make her own costume.
Millard also spoke on what she has been learning; she stated, “I’ve learned our habits. Like, practice doesn’t make perfect- it makes a habit, and so we have to practice the right thing, so then it makes a correct habit. Since starting class, Millard has seen improvements in herself, she said, “I feel more confident with working with other people since I don’t know anyone in this class. I’m forced to work with others that I usually wouldn’t work with. It helps me with conversations, and stuff like that.”
Millard gave some insight to anybody wanting to join drama, and that is, “it’s really fun, like, very fun… if you’re not into theater, this is a really nice class to take just because of the teacher, the people around you, and all the plays that we do, it’s really nice.
The last person I interviewed was Hughson High’s principal, Loren Lighthall. Why did he hire Mr. Anderson? What does he look for in an employee, and how has his teaching contributed to the school?
Mr. Lighthall stated reasons for hiring Mr. Anderson. Here is what he had to say. “You have to have a credential, so you need to be qualified. That’s the first step. Anybody who works here has to have appropriate academics, credentials, and ability, which of course, he had. He has been around the program for a long time in a volunteer capacity. He’s had kids in the program. Hickman had to hire him, too, so they were a part of the process, and he was a part of that program, so it was an easy choice for us to make.
Mr. Lighthall also mentioned a certain quality he looks for in people when hiring someone such as Anderson. He said, “I want them to have a good relationship with kids. I feel like we can teach them anything else and how to be a good teacher and just to fit in with what we’re doing here, but you have to like kids and you’ve got to be able to get along with kids.”
In terms of contribution, Hughson High’s drama class was deemed one of the most important programs here. Lighthall said, “It teaches kids how to be in front of an audience and to function with a bigger group much like FFA or a sports team. It provides an avenue for kids with that skill set so it’s really important for a certain subsection of kids to be able to sing and dance and perform with their friends.” Mr. Lighthall gave this message to end the meeting when asked about the benefits of joining Hughson High’s drama class. “You do things in theater that you don’t get to really do anywhere else. Other than some of the competitions they have in FFA, you have to be out front, you have to put yourself out there. You have to overcome your fears, being in public and doing things. So it’s a huge benefit for kids to do something in front of others.”
From the kindness you receive from Mr. Anderson himself, to the community the students create, even to Mr. Lighthall’s good word, it’s clear that our school’s drama club is very important, beneficial, and, thanks to Mr. Anderson, enjoyable and impactful. Thank you to Mr. Anderson for giving students the opportunity to express themselves creatively. The staff and students here at Hughson High appreciate all you do and are excited to see what you have in store for the future of Hughson High School’s drama program!
