Hello there! My name is Jodi Disario and I am thrilled to be the Drama teacher for the rest of the 2015-2016 school year at Rolling Hills Middle School.
I have been in education for seventeen years. I spent fifteen years as a teacher and two as an administrator. I began my career in the suburbs of Chicago, teaching Reading, Language Arts and Social Studies to 7th and 8th graders. I also founded many clubs during that time, including the drama club and the school newspaper.
I moved to California in 1997 and began teaching high school English. I continued this until 2009, when I left an amazing school in Mountain View to begin my work as a school administrator. During this time, I taught English, Civics, Economics, Career Education and Leadership. I also created two classes called Sociology in English and Literature of Theatre. While teaching the “Theatre Lit” class, I really found my passion, introducing students to plays and musicals that they otherwise would never have had the opportunity to know. We listened to cast albums, read scripts, watched videos (when available) and took field trips when the budget allowed. I was proud to create dozens of theatre lovers who have, in the ensuing years, passed their love of theatre on to their own children. Yes, I feel old.
I personally, have loved the theatre since I was a child. My first performances on stage were in church pageants, where, for some reason, I was always cast as shepherds. I would to on to enjoy drama performances in elementary school (“Santa and the Snowmobile”) and middle school (“Stone Soup” and “Macbeth”). I performed in plays, musicals, readers’ theaters and contest plays in high school, as well as competing for four years on the speech team.
In college, at Illinois State University, I majored in Speech Communication-Education, intending a career as a speech teacher and coach. I also participated on the nationally ranked speech team there, culminating in winning the National Championship in Dramatic Duo Interpretation in 1992. I continued to participate in community theatre, with favorite shows being “Godspell,” “Babes in Arms” and “Our Town.”
I married my husband, Aaron, in 1998, and we have two beautiful daughters, Delaney and McKayla. Delaney is an eighth grader who is active in choir and art, and McKayla, our third grader, is our drama diva. She just finished TWO shows: playing “July” in Annie Jr. at her school, and Honk at the Children’s Musical Theatre of San Jose. She will be appearing in Alice in Wonderland in May.
I still remain active in theatre, though mostly as an audience member. My favorite shows tend to be musicals, and I am what they call a “repeat attender,” meaning when I see a show I love, I want to see it over and over, often taking people with me who have never seen the show. This has been the case for shows like Wicked, If/Then, Rent and Matilda.
For our class, we will study both musicals and plays. My plan, depending on how long each show takes us to get through, is to study Matilda, Honk, Into the Woods and Hamilton for musicals. For plays, we’ll look at The Miracle Worker, The Poet and the Rent, and Law and Order: Fairy Tale Unit. Students will have the opportunity to read aloud in class (and I have it on good authority that some are planning to sing in class, as well). However, no student will be forced to do so against his or her will. Students who do choose to read aloud will receive extra credit points that will be added on to the study guide for that show when it is turned in.
I truly believe that there is much to be learned through theatre that can be applied to other subject areas and life in general. I am very excited to begin on this journey with your student and you. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email (jdisario@campbellusd.org) or call (408-371-7000 ext 5123). Email is the best way to reach me. I will also be using the “Remind” system for reminders for the whole class. I would like as many parents and guardians, AS WELL AS STUDENTS to sign up for this system. Simply text “@msdisari” with no quotation marks to 81010. Note that there is no letter o in that text message.