An Illinois High School has removed its theatre’s namesake after a student journalist uncovered his ties to a movement with controversial teachings.

A new school year is a fresh stage. Theatre students — what will you try differently this time? New risks, new roles, new relationships. The curtain is rising.

“High school theatre deserves intimacy coordinators to keep young actors safe and empowered. No one should feel uncomfortable or unheard during a show.”

“After the challenges of recent years and the shifting landscapes of education and the arts, one question stands front and center: How will you set the tone for your theatre program this year?”

“You can’t whitewash In the Heights. It’s not just offensive—it’s against the licensing rules. Schools must do better.”

“As educators, directors, and mentors, our job isn’t to eliminate the fear. It’s to walk beside them through it. To give them the tools to manage it, the space to feel it, and the confidence to keep going anyway.”

I've had the privilege of teaching a wide range of age groups. I had two classes as my time as a teaching assistant beforehand, 4-6 year olds and 7-12 year olds, and I loved them all so much, they were such a lively bunch and always made my week so entertaining. It was usually my job to warm up my lil' tinkers, and depending on who was in my class, and how old they were, decided what game we'd play that day. Here is the mental list I had made in my time as a TA about all the warm-up games I'd played throughout the years.

Contradiction in a teacher-student relationship is unnecessary; it does not develop the mind of a student, and only leads to overthinking their steps to ensure they're doing the right thing, which often ends up being wrong.

Teaching theatre can be lonely.

Wait. What?! How can teaching be lonely? You’re literally surrounded by people all…day...long.

Yes. True. Surrounded by people. People in your classroom who hopefully love theatre and love you. Surrounded by your students. Hopefully surrounded by supportive teaching, admin, and school staff. Maybe supportive parents and guardians too.

But, teaching theatre is lonely.