Buried in a corner of the high school, a door is swung open. Inside are overlapping voices, seated and engaged in their seats, laughing. Standing at the head of the class is a woman, attempting to calm the storm. Ms. Kittie Harden’s face is full of pride as her passion for theater inspires her students. 

“I became a theater teacher because I get to incorporate all the things I love,” Ms. Harden said. “I’m a people person. I love high school students.”

Ms. Harden graduated from University of Missouri with a masters at UCM. She has been teaching her entire life, teaching theater at Blue Springs High School and directing college productions at Blue River. This passion for theater stemmed at an early age. 

“I became interested in theater when I was a child,” Ms. Harden said.  “I used to make my brothers and sisters put on plays during Christmas. We used to play school and I would even make them assignments. I started to design costumes when I was about 10.”

Ms. Harden became the new theater teacher in 2021 after the passing of Ms. Genevieve Hutter. Theater Club President Mckenzie Rice believes she was fit for the role. 

“She’s nice and experienced,” Rice said. “She was definitely the best person to fill the position given the situation.” 

When she is not teaching, Ms. Harden loves to watch sports, and even help do boosters for her son’s football teams. She also loves to sing, decorate, make arts and crafts, sew, and everything related to theater. Junior Molly Friel also agrees she was a good match.

“She came into an extremely hard situation and handled it the best she could,” Friel said.

With a wave of her hands, the voices die down as students rush to their seats. As she teaches, the class once more becomes engaged. Under Ms. Harden’s direction, the classroom has truly come to life.