Seventeen years, longer than many students have been alive, is how long Judi Jones has been teaching theater at MHS. This year is Jones’ last year but that doesn’t mean the award-winning theater program will disappear with her. Rebecca Blindauer, Rockwood Valley theater teacher, will take over this August.
Blindauer received her undergraduate degree in theater from Missouri State University and spent 12 years performing in New York City after college.

“I did all sorts of crazy shows and traveled the country and did some really fun things,” Blindauer said. “Then I went back to school in New York and got my masters to teach theater and now I’m back in St. Louis.”

Theater has been a life-long passion for Blindauer, ever since she was a kid performing in community productions like her first show “Oliver”, she said.

“My dad was a high school English teacher,” Blindauer said. “They didn’t have a theater teacher at his high school so he directed all their plays. “I remember being young and sitting in the theater and watching late night rehearsals of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.”

As Blindauer got older, she stayed involved with theater, performing throughout junior high and eventually high school.

“Thinking back to when I was in high school, I had a really terrific theater teacher and a really terrific theater program,” Blindauer said. “We were a really close group of people. It was like a family.”
Blindauer said she hopes to share her positive experiences with high school theater with students at MHS, she said.

“I enjoyed having a place where I could fit in, where I could go and just be myself, so I’m really looking forward to meeting all those kids who feel like they belong in the theater and sort of taking their talents and interests as a freshman and nurturing them for four years and watching them grow,” she said.
Another of her goals is to encourage as many students as possible to join the theater program, Blindauer said.

Next year will be Blindauer’s first year teaching high school, but her fourth year teaching in total. In addition to Rockwood Valley, Blindauer has taught at Babler Elementary and directed plays after school at Wildwood Middle School.

Moving from a middle school to a high school is a big change, but it’s one Blindauer is prepared for.
“I think anyone would be lying if they said they weren’t nervous or apprehensive. It’s like the first day of school in kindergarten all over again,” Blindauer said. “ But I think more than anything I’m excited.”
Members of the administration are also excited to see what Blindauer will do with the theater program.
Blindauer’s extensive experience in theater helped make her a good fit for the job, Associate Principal Lisa Kaczmarczyk said.

“She has a wealth of knowledge, she knows exactly what it takes to make it or not make it,” Kaczmarczyk said.

However, the decision wasn’t easy, she said, as there were many impressive candidates.
Principal Dr. Greg Mathison also was involved in the hiring process and agrees the decision was difficult to make.

Based on her personality and experience, Blindauer was the best candidate, Dr. Mathison said.
“She’s energetic, she’s exciting, she wants to pull a lot of people together and get as many kids involved and build on the foundation that Ms. Jones has already started,” Dr. Mathison said.

As for Jones, she thinks Blindauer is a good fit for MHS, and is looking forward to retirement, at least on most days.

“Sometimes I freak a bit and think, oh my goodness – what have I done?” Jones said.

Jones plans to spend her time traveling everywhere from New York City to the Caribbean, along with spending time with her five young grandchildren.

“I’m also starting my own acting and theatrical coaching business called Between the Lines,” Jones said. “I hope to coach students on acting, auditioning and directing.”

Jones will be missed at MHS and her impact on the theater program will not be forgotten, Kassie Berger, secretary of MTC, said.

“She’s been here for a long time and she’s done a lot for the school so we’re definitely going to feel an emptiness without her presence,” Berger said. “We wouldn’t have a theater company without Ms. Jones.”