Meet Sarah Houghtelin of North High School Theatre Department in Central Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Houghtelin.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Sarah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I began performing with my parents as an Irish Dancer at Renaissance Faires at the age of four. I studied Irish Dance growing up and eventually opened my own dance school, The Celtic dance Academy. I really enjoyed teaching Irish Dance and tried to find ways to be creative within the boundaries of that very strict art form.

In high school, I was determined to be the lead in the school play from day one. I was not. BUT I really tried hard to be as much a part of my school’s drama club as I could. I actually attended high School where I teach now, North High School. David Helmstetter was my drama teacher and he remains a bit of a legend. He was daring and talented without a match. He created amazing shows that made us feel like anything was possible. I had no idea back then what kind of work he did. But I do know that from him, I learned how production should run. He always made sure that his productions were student-led. He had the ideas and we, with his leadership and guidance, pulled off these incredibly adventurous productions. And because he was SO good at what he did, we learned confidence. We could do ANYTHING.

I was involved in band, drama, and eventually started my own group for the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It was called an Irish dance and Music group called Celtic Fire, and we won the “Best New Act” our first year. I was only 16 years old when I was in charge of this group. It was a group of four musicians and five young Irish dancers. Jerica Nicolaides, who is STILL a very popular musician in the Arizona Irish Music scene, headed up the musicians. I taught the dance and collaborated with the musicians on musical arrangements and choreography. We performed with me as director for three years. After that, I moved to California to further my study of Irish Dance under Doireann Maoileidigh and the Celtic Gold Academy of Irish Dance in Orange County.

When I returned home, Todd Muller, a good friend, insisted that his daughter, Ali, be my first Irish Dance Student. We started the Celtic dance Academy in my backyard. It was wonderful to think about all of the wonderful things that happened because of that. I met so many amazing people and grew the school to a school of hundreds with champion level competitors and friends like Holly Whaley, who I met because she brought her daughter to my classes. We have been friends for 16 years and I will be officiating her son’s wedding in June. The CDA and the ten years I spent as owner of that school were really a profound time in my life.

I also studied dance at ASU and, to pay the bills while my dance studio was getting started, I took jobs in schools as an instructional aid, or paraprofessional. I enjoyed it so much, that I actually took on a seventh-grade class at a local Waldorf School. The school was rich in arts education and was really wonderful, even though I only lasted one year because Irish Dance was beginning to really take off for me, but I really always have loved teaching anything.

I began teaching dance at the Irish Cultural Center and spent a lot of time working for the Irish Community. In 2004, I received the honor of being named Arizona Irish Colleen. Essentially, I was awarded a scholarship that sent me to Ireland for the first time and I was called upon to be a spokesperson for the Arizona Irish Community for the year. It was a magical experience. I got to wear a tiara and everything.
In that same year, I created and began producing The Irish Nutcracker. The first show was in a St Gregory’s parish hall in 2005. We did one performance with no special lighting, pre-recorded sound, and cardboard sets. I remember that you could see through a giant hole in one of the curtains! But we sat outside after it was all over, and decided to do it again the next year.

By the time I decided to leave Irish Dance, we had performed it at Mesa Arts Center and on Center Stage at the Herberger. I had a close friend, Chris Jeffries- Dowling helps me with the technical aspects of the show. I learned so much from him in the time we were working together to create this show and I was really proud of the work we did together. And, truly, honored that I had a friend who believed so much in the work that I was doing that he would take time out of his schedule to work with me. Every year.

In 2011, I decided to leave Irish Dance and really thought I was done with teaching altogether. I got a job in a call center and began to think about if I might enjoy an office job. I had called an old supervisor of mine from the Waldorf School and asked for a reference. She asked why I wasn’t coming to work for her, and I told her I was thinking of leaving education and starting over with a new career. She said, “Ah. Well, call me when you have come to your senses.” And of course, she gave me the reference. She just knew better, because less than six months later, I was calling her. I wanted back in. And I decided that high school was my place, more specifically, the high school theatre.

I also had wonderful friends and family who watched me struggle with the decision to stay in arts education or not. Chris Jeffries-Dowling and I sat together one evening, and he walked me through some videos from past productions we had created together and he said, “You have a gift for directing that not many people have. You really need to be doing THIS.”

Four years ago, I finally landed a job directing a high school theatre department. Right back at North High in the same theatre, I spent thousands of hours in while I was growing up. I work really hard to continue the legacy of excellence in Theatre Arts that Mr. Helmstetter started so long ago.

Has it been a smooth road?
Deciding to change careers was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I had to come to terms with the fact that the path I had chosen ten to twelve years earlier was no longer making me happy. I felt stuck and deeply depressed. It took a while for me to find my new path. In the search for my long term position as a theatre teacher, I had to be patient and wait for the right job. Theatre jobs aren’t exactly in high demand, and at the time, there was a large supply of teachers with similar qualifications to mine. I really had to look hard to find jobs. Most often, art teacher positions are part-time, but you can’t really have two, because of the schedule that a school wants you to keep. The first time I applied for my position at North high, they passed on me. I was offered a full-time position as a classroom teacher at the Waldorf school, but my heart wasn’t in that. I really wanted to hold out for art ed. I was so thrilled to have the opportunity at North come up again. It really changed everything.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am known for being a particularly creative director. I think I owe that to David Helmstetter and his daring ideas. I like to be adventurous and choose shows that will allow me the most creativity possible. I like to try new methods for building sets and I love to collaborate with my students on finding new ways to do things with the materials that are available to us. We don’t always have exactly what we need, or if something breaks, there usually isn’t money to get it fixed, so my job requires a lot of creative problem-solving.

I would say that I am also known for being an extremely hard worker. People often ask me how I “do it all”…. and honestly, I am not really sure. I learned from my dad that once you start a project, you don’t quit until it is done. I am learning to not start so many projects at a time… I am really passionate about the work I do and I love doing it. I think that is really the key.

I keep a very organized department and I work very hard to do a good job and be accountable and trustworthy.

This year, I was honored with “IB teacher of the year” at North High. This award was voted on by the other teachers, so I am particularly humbled to receive it. Because of this, my name has been put forward as a nominee for Arizona IB teacher of the Year. I also have been asked to speak at the International Baccalaureate Global Conference this summer. I will be talking about the Importance of the arts in education.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I loved to read. I had an active imagination and really saw the world through the eyes of someone who believed in unicorns and fairies for as long as possible. My mother was a costumer and I would take the scraps of fabric and create fantastical clothing for my dolls. I was deeply interested in history and the loves of historical figures, my favorite genre remains historical fiction. I loved to dance and loved the theatre. I was surrounded by performing arts professionals and I idolized them. I was definitely what they called “bossy” when I was little. By high school, they called it “leadership qualities.” Now, I think it is called “stubborn.”

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthHighDrama/

Image Credit:
Todd Muller, Abia Khan

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