Gail Burns to be inducted into national Hall of Fame

Rector Public Schools educator Gail Burns is one of two inductees into the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) Hall of Fame for 2009. The induction ceremony will take place Saturday, Sept. 12, at the EdTA annual conference at the Anaheim (California) Marriott.

Hall of Fame inductees are EdTA members who have been nominated for the honor by a peer or student for dedicating 20 or more years of service to the cause of theatre education.

Burns has taught in Rector Public Schools since 1974. She currently is the director of theatre; theatre arts and speech communication teacher, and the administrator of the gifted education program in the district.

Her students have earned numerous honors, including being selected to perform at the International Thespian Festival, the annual event produced by EdTA's student honorary division, the International Thespian Society (ITS).

In addition to her years in the classroom in Rector Public Schools, Burns served as theatre arts instructor at Black River Technical College for two years. She also spent seven years as director of CRE-8, the summer program for gifted and talented Arkansas theatre students.

Burns' involvement with EdTA includes serving as the director of Thespian troupe 4089 at Rector High School, as well as in a variety of leadership capacities with the organization. She was president of the EdTA Board of Directors from 2005-2007.

"Gail is a listener, a visionary, a friend and a spokesperson for the arts," says Gainesville (GA) High School educator Pam Ware, who nominated Burns for the EdTA Hall of Fame. "She believes in offering opportunities to her students and is respected by young and old alike. I have never seen her when she was not gracious and caring about others. Involvement is her middle name."

"It is a special kind of person who answers the call to be a teacher," says EdTA executive director Michael J. Peitz. "A teacher must have a passion not only for their field of expertise, but also for sharing that knowledge with their students. In her more than three decades as a teacher, Gail Burns has been the very definition of that passion. Her commitment to her students and to the field of theatre education is unwavering. She is most deserving of induction into the EdTA Hall of Fame."

Also joining Burns as an EdTA Hall of Fame inductee this year is Krista Carson Elhai of Claremont, Calif.

The 2009 EdTA annual conference is sponsored in part by Dolphin Entertainment, Savannah College of Art and Design and Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.

About EdTA

The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) is a professional organization for theatre education founded in 1929. EdTA's mission is to create a network for theatre arts educators, students, professionals and enthusiasts to share ideas and support the effort to have theatre arts education (including film, television and other related media) recognized in all phases of education and lifelong learning. EdTA operates the International Thespian Society (ITS), an honorary organization for middle school and high school theatre students. The organization also publishes Dramatics, a monthly magazine for high school theatre students, and Teaching Theatre, a quarterly journal for theatre education professionals.

About ITS

The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honorary organization for high school and middle school theatre students located at more than 3,900 affiliated secondary schools across America, Canada and abroad. The mission of ITS is to honor student excellence in the theatre arts. Thespian high school inductees are known as "Thespians" and junior high/middle school inductees are known as "Junior Thespians." ITS is a division of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA).

About The Festival

The International Thespian Festival is an annual, weeklong event for high school theatre students, celebrating student achievement in theatre. The event features workshops presented by theatre professionals, individual and group performances, programs for technical theatre students and opportunities to audition for college admission and scholarships. The International Thespian Festival currently is held on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is presented by the International Thespian Society (ITS), the student honorary of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA).