Speech and Drama teacher Maeve Nash has only gone two years without a direct connection to WS since her graduation in 2012. Her history with the school in conjunction with her young age gives her much-needed experience and valuable new ideas which have aided the theatre department since she began teaching in 2018.

Nash attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where she majored in Theatre Education and minored in English with the hope that she would be able to return to her alma mater to teach.

“I had a pretty bad high school theatre experience,” said Nash. “I really wanted to give kids a positive theatre experience, and I really specifically wanted to return to West Springfield so that kids [here] could have the theatre experience that I didn’t have.”

Nash, who teaches Theatre and Tech Theatre, knew she wanted to be a teacher when she realized she could create a safe space for students at her old high school, something she valued having when she was a student.

“My junior year, when I was starting to think about colleges, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher because my art teacher here Ms. Rehm had a really great environment in her classroom. It was just one of the few places in the school where I really felt safe,” said Nash. “I was like, ‘Well, I love theatre, so I’ll be a theatre teacher,’ and I pretty specifically wanted to be a theatre teacher at West Springfield.”

Since she started teaching shortly after graduating from college, Nash is able to better relate to and form stronger connections with her students.

“In theatre, [being younger] helps because so much is happening in the world of student identity and I feel like I’m up to date on all of that,” continued Nash. “I don’t know if that’s just because I’m young or if that’s who I am, but it certainly helps that I’ve been on social media around the same time that you all have been.” 

Another result of Nash returning to her alma mater is that many of her colleagues were once her teachers, including Keith Owens, Kevin Deliee, Madeleine Deliee, Jamie O’Neill, and William Leahy.

“It’s funny, it’s not as weird as I thought it would be. [Working with] some of them [is] easier than others,” Nash remarked. “Like, I can’t think of Mr. Owens as Keith, and when I call him Keith he gets really grossed out.”

Nash also attended Washington Irving Middle School and was a student of theatre teacher Timothy King, with whom she now works closely to connect the middle school and high school theatre experience.

“It really helps to have gone to Irving and gone through his curriculum and know the projects that he does and know how he runs his shows, because it gives me a really good awareness of what I’m building upon that he did and what might be new to freshmen at West Springfield,” commented Nash.

While having attended Irving and WS gives Nash helpful experience that amplifies her ability to relate to students and tailor her lessons to the WS experience, so does her extensive experience in her field. While most schools only hire based on theatre experience, Nash’s experience in technical theatre brings a wonderful boost to the Tech Theatre elective.

“I am experienced in both theatre and technical theatre, which is not a requirement for the job, [so the school] was really excited that I was offering to grow the technical theatre program,” said Nash, “I’ve also worked professionally in theatre, and I also think it helps that I’m young so I’m kind of plugged into what kids care about.”

As Nash enters her sixth year of teaching, she is eager to continue to grow the theatre program and ensure that all students have a safe space to learn.

“I care a lot about the program, I think all theatre teachers do, but I’ve seen how it’s grown and I’m really committed to continuing that growth,” said Nash.