Temple High School theatrical design students traveled to Houston on May 13, 2022, to The Museum of Fine Arts. The class is pictured in front of the portrait of President Barack Obama. Also on display was the portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama. The paintings are on loan from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and have been to Chicago, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Atlanta. After Houston, the tour continues to San Francisco and Boston. The museum also contained a collection of the Art of M.C. Escher and many other exhibits.

Temple High Thespians assisted with the district-wide TISD Spring Carnival on May 7th, held at Jefferson and Raye-Allen Elementary Schools. The carnivals included student performances, food trucks, free games and more.

Kayla Stewart will become the head director of the Temple High Theatre Arts Department in the Fall 2022. She succeeds Natasha Tolleson, who retired after 31 years. Kayla has taught at Temple High for six years, where she was named Fine Arts Teacher of the Year for 2000-2001. She is pursuing her Master of Arts in Theatre from the University of Houston. She has appeared in shows at Temple Civic Theatre and the Cultural Activities Center, and also consults at TCT.

Kayla is the UIL informative, persuasive and debate coach. She also teaches theatrical lighting.

     Natasha Tolleson has announced that she will be retiring as a public-school teacher at the end of May 2022. This is Tolleson's 31st year as head of the Temple High School theatre arts department. She moved to Temple in 1989 when her husband, Richard, took a job as a TV weatherman at a local television station.
     In UIL one-act play competitions, her teams have won state championships two times — "Ruthless!" in 2007 and "Bug" in 2016, and have been named a District Champion for the past 30 years in a row. No other UIL team at Temple High School holds such a record.
     Her students have entered the UIL Theatrical Design competition every year, and won the state championship in group design the first year of the contest (2008) and again in 2014. In the first year of the UIL Film Contest, Tolleson's students won the state championship in division two, narrative (2014).
     In 2018, she was selected as Educator of the Year by the Texas Educational Theatre Association. In 2011, she was named one of the Top 15 UIL Sponsors in Texas. In 2014, she was inducted into the Texas Thespians Hall of Fame.
     She and her husband have three children (Alexandra, Spencer and Emma), and two granddaughters (Charlotte and Penelope).

Temple High School's one-act play, Men on Boats, did not advance from the area contest held Saturday, April 2, at the Midway ISD Performing Arts Center. Advancing schools were Rockwall Heath, Waxahachie and Wylie. Natalie Greenfield was named to the all-star cast. Hanna Prince and Skyler Gordon were awarded honorable mention all-star cast. Mekena McVean was named to the all-star technical crew.

DELAYED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, BECAUSE OF WEATHER
A final public performance will be Tuesday, April 12, at 7 p.m. at the Temple High Auditorium. Admission $5 (cash or check). A reception honoring the company will follow.

Temple was named District Champion in three events during the UIL 12-6A District Academic Meet on Saturday, March 26, at Belton High School. The top three ranked students from each contest will advance to the regional meet, April 22-23, at Baylor University.

Saniyah Galbreath won district poetry interpretation. Hanna Prince won the district prose interpretation. Mekena McVean won the district ready writing championship.

Other Temple students advancing to region include Colin Fowler (3rd place) in literary criticism, Allisandria Randle (2nd) and Miles Gaunt (3rd) in persuasive speaking, and Natalie Greenfield (2nd) and Skyler Gordon (3rd) in prose interpretation

Other Temple champions include Alivea Johnson (5th place) and Rania Ahmed (6th) in informative speaking; Alivea Johnson (4th) and Allisandria Randle (5th) in Lincoln-Douglas debate; Alyssa Maggitt (5th) and Natalie Greenfield (6th) in literary criticism; and Brinley Belson (4th) and Avery Tarbet (6th) in poetry interpretation.

Temple won the District Championship in Team Speech and came in second in Team Literary Criticism.

Temple High School's one-act play, Men on Boats, advanced to area from the bi-district contest held Thursday, March 24, at Temple High School. Also advancing were Waxahachie HS (A Monster Calls) and Midway HS (Peter and the Starcatcher). The area contest will be Saturday, April 2, at the Midway ISD Performing Arts Center.

Individual awards include Natalie Greenfield and Alivea Johnson (all-star cast) and Hanna Prince and Brinley Belson (honorable mention all-star cast). Alyssa Maggitt was named to the all-star technical crew.

     Disney's The Lion King Jr. is being presented at Temple High School. Performance dates are Thursday-Saturday, January 27-29, 2022 at 7 p.m. with a Sunday matinee on January 30 at 2 p.m. Please note that evening performance times (7 p.m.) are an hour earlier than usual for the benefit of younger children. Online tickets are available at www.CentralTexasTickets.com and are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Reserved seat tickets (the first eight rows) cost an additional $5. General admission seating opens 30 minutes before performance time.
     The production includes students from Temple elementary schools, middle schools and high school. The African savannah comes to life on stage with Simba, Rafiki and an unforgettable cast of characters as they journey from Pride Rock to the jungle... and back again, in this inspiring, coming-of-age tale. You will meet such characters as Mufasa (Simba's father), Scar (Simba's evil uncle), Zazu (Mufasa's majordomo) and Timon and Pumbaa (a meerkat and warthog).
     When an unthinkable tragedy happens, Simba flees the Pride Lands, leaving his loss and the life he knew behind. Eventually companioned by two hilarious and unlikely friends, Simba starts anew. But when the weight of responsibility and a desperate plea from the now ravaged Pride Lands come to find the adult prince, Simba must take on a formidable enemy, and fulfill his destiny to be king.
     Songs include "The Circle of Life," "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," "Hakuna Matata," "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and many more.
     A complete list of cast and production staff is listed on the show's Information Page.

CLICK HERE to order advance tickets from www.CentralTexasTickets.com. Tickets (if availalble) will also be sold at the door.