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Drama Department Faculty
Lorraine Thompson is currently the Head of the Drama Department at Athens Academy. Her teaching responsibilities include 6th - 8th grades as well as all Upper School drama classes. She also serves as the sponsor of the Athens Academy Drama Club. Her directorial responsibilities include three acting showcases, the fall one act play, the touring troupe, and the spring play.
She holds a bachelor's degree in Education from Auburn University of Montgomery and a Masters in Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of Georgia. Ms. Thompson's professional theatre credits include The Summer 3 Theatre Company, Lees McRae Summer Theatre, The Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, The Highlands Playhouse, and The Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre. She has also studied at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the Georgia Shakespeare Festival. She is the author of eight published plays. Her plays are published by Pioneer Publishing, Eldridge Press, Big Dog Publishing, I.E. Clarke, and Heuer Publishing. She is a member of the Southern Order of Storytellers, The Educational Theatre Association, and The Dramatist Guild of America.
Katie Townsend is currently the Middle School Drama teacher at Athens Academy. Her teaching responsibilities include 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes and she directs the Middle School play each winter. In addition to her Middle School responsibilities, Katie assists with the Upper School fall one-act play and spring production. On top of teaching and directing, Katie is also the GHSA Region 8-A literary coordinator. Her responsibilities include coordinating the fall one-act competitions (sub-region and region) and the spring literary competition.
Katie received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts in theatre performance from Auburn University and will obtain her Master's of Arts in Teaching, Secondary Education with an endorsement in theatre education from Liberty University in December, 2011. While at Auburn, Katie was actively involved in the department of theatre as president of the Tau Gamma chapter of Alpha Psi Omega (drama honor society) and the Auburn Players, a student led organization devoted to creating theatre. Not only was she involved in the Theatre department, but also held offices in the Student Government Association; first as a member of Freshman Forum and secondly as Director of the Miss Auburn University Pageant. She was also a member of Chi Omega sorority. Upon graduation, Katie was invited to work with Georgia Shakespeare as a teaching artist for their elementary and middle school summer camps. Directly after working with Georgia Shakespeare, Katie was asked to join the Athens Academy faculty and staff. Katie plans to continue pursuing advanced degrees in education and leadership.