Mrs. Thursby is a new English teacher to New Ulm High School and she is the new theater director. This is Thursby’s 7th year teaching English and this fall will be the 9th theater show she has worked on. Thursby is very passionate and very energetic about words and the power that they have over all of us. Thursby finds teaching English fascinating because of the morphology and history behind words. She’s in love with theater because its a great way to move people.

She describes her teaching as “allowing students the possibility to fall in love with the same things I have a passion for and hope at some point in their time with me, they get a hint of that excitement and passion.”

As a former student of Thursby’s, I can say that that description is very accurate. The first few weeks we had Ms. Sullivan because Mrs. Thursby was out on maternity leave. Once Mrs. Thursby came back, it took a bit to re-adjust, but once I got over my pettiness, Mrs. Thursby became one of my favorite teachers. She is one of the most passionate teachers I have ever had and it was her class, Theater, that showed me that I love acting.

Thursby’s story of why she became a teacher is a little different from most. In 9th grade she struggled with reading. She was so embarrassed of her struggle that she wanted no one to know. In fact, she was so good at acting smart that she got signed up for Advanced English. She knew that she had to work hard and figure things out to get through the class. When she started reading Harry Potter she had to plug her ears and read out loud to understand it. It was because of those embarrassing moments that she wanted to teach others the skill of reading.

Mrs. Thursby is not only a new English teacher she is also a new theater director. She has been hired to direct the High School play and co-direct the musical with Mrs. Horning. She has invested her time in learning the light and sound technology so that she can hopefully run a meaningful class and allow students to learn the same technology. Her goal is that someday at least one student will be so affected that he/she would pursue a career either behind the scenes or on stage in a theater.

Many students do not know Mrs. Thursby because she is new and does not teach many seniors or juniors, but as a former student I can say that Thursby is one of the most energetic teachers at New Ulm and is a great person to talk to. If anyone wants to talk about there future, Mrs. Thursby is great at giving advice and I am sure she would not mind talking to any of you!