About Me.

Courtney McDonald is a Mississippi based theatre artist and educator. In 2017, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts, with a minor in Music - Vocal Performance, from the University of Mississippi, and in 2020, she received her Master of Arts in Performing Arts Administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago. She is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Education from the Mississippi University for Women.

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Over the past 15 years, Courtney has played many roles on stage, but her favorites include Mrs. Potts in Beauty & the Beast, Mrs. Allen in Dark of the Moon (for which she received a Kennedy Center of American College Theatre Festive “Irene Ryan Award” nomination for acting excellence) and Portia in Something Rotten!

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Courtney teaches middle school theatre and has created a theatre program from the ground up at a school which was severely lacking in arts programs. She is also extremely involved in her local community theatre as a director, actor, stage manager, and ambassador. What she enjoys most about being an educator is sharing what she loves with her students and community.

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Educational Philosophy

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Teaching theatre has always been about sharing what I love most with anyone who would listen, but, especially, with young people.

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As far back as I can remember, the arts have been an incredibly important part of my life. My father shared with me his love of music. My mother shared with me her love of design and artistic creativity. I had dance instructors, piano teachers, and band directors who shared with me all they knew. When I met my first theatre director, I saw my future. He shared with me all the beautiful things about the world I wanted to be a part of, and that included more than simply the art of theatre. I learned confidence, collaboration, patience, and community.

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What I aspire to teach my students every day is this: Theatre is more than an art form. Theatre is a reflection of the world we, as humans, live, and have lived, in. I hope to teach them how to live a life they wouldn’t mind being written down and performed one day. I hope to teach them kindness, humility, empathy, sympathy, community, collaboration, and belief in themselves. Theatre also encompasses so much more than just acting, singing, and dancing. I hope to be able to integrate other subjects into my theatre lessons to show students just how collaborative this art form is. I want students to be able to own their education and learn as much as possible while enjoying this subject.

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I’m passionate about arts education and want to make it accessible to all students because children deserve a well-rounded education and opportunities to express themselves creatively.