STAFF
The directing staff is small and the same for each show. All three of us are certified, public school educators, who have worked together for many years. We are very driven and success oriented people who fully commit themselves to growing each student in the program. We are unique in that we approach directing not from the point of view of an artist, but as educators with a passion for the arts. We believe the most valuable life skills that we can instill in our students are a sense of commitment, responsibility, and desire to always do your best. As people who are also having to get up early each morning and spending all day in school, we also are very much in tune with the outside responsibilities our students face.
L to R: Ashley Bouras, Doug Valentine, Karen Rose Photo by Basil Bouras
DIRECTOR: DOUG VALENTINE
Mr. Valentine has a BSE in Education and a Masters Degree in Library Science. He has taught for 15 years garnering a number of local, state, and national awards including being the first librarian to be a Richardson ISD STAR Teacher, 2007 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year, 2008 TCEA Special Services Educator of the Year, 2009 ATPE Special Service Educator of the Year, 2010 American Library Association's Love my Librarian Award, and 2011 Texas State Librarian of the Year. He and his wife Karen Rose have won numerous national awards for their video work and earned over $50,000 in equipment and money for their schools. His elementary student news crew won numerous awards including the Shortie Awards in Washington D.C. He and his students have created numerous short films that have been accepted and shown at international and national student films festivals including honorable mentions at the 2010 Anaheim Children's Media Festival, and the 2015 White House Film Festival. Mr. Valentine has started four different youth theatre groups over his thirty year directing career. He has directed over 150 full scale productions and over 225 camp shows, tours, and festivals. Mr. Valentine's unique approach and education background gives students an opportunity to not only participate in high quality productions, but also learn a number of life lessons and skills that they will be able to use to become successful people. Mr. Valentine's programs have turned out dozens of performers who have gone on to success at the collegiate and professional level. From Tony and Obie award winners working on Broadway, to college professors and community theatre actors, his former students have gone on to have success performing at a variety of levels. There are also numerous students who have gone on to become successful doctors, chemistry and anthropology professors, writers, ministers and other careers away from the stage.
CHOREOGRAPHER: KAREN ROSE
Ms. Rose is the wife of Mr. Valentine and acts as choreographer for the group. Ms. Rose graduated with honors with a BSE in Education from the University of Oklahoma. She has 18 years of teaching experience and currently teaches English as a Second Language in Richardson ISD. Ms. Rose has been honored as the Oklahoma Reading Council New Teacher of the Year, Melissa ISD Elementary Teacher of the Year, ATPE Elementary Teacher of the Year, and a Humanities Texas Outstanding Teacher. She was the 2009 TCEA Classroom Teacher of the year, which qualified her to be the Texas representative for the 2010 International Society for Technology Education Educator of the Year. She is the only Texas Educator to have won this top award in Technology Education. She also has won numerous awards for short films created with her students including having a film created by her students accepted into the Top Ten Kid Flix at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival which at the time was the only Oscar qualifying children's film festival in the world. She was one of two elementary teachers in the state invited to serve on the Texas Education Commissioner's 2010-2011 Teacher Advisory Board and has presented on integrating creative arts and technology into the elementary classroom at numerous state, national, and international conferences including International Reading Association, National Council For Social Studies, Association for Staff and Curriculum Development, and the Texas Education Reform Foundation. Her education background is apparent in her growth mindset approach to theatre.
MUSIC DIRECTOR: ASHLEY BOURAS
Mrs. Bouras has a Bachelor of Music Education from UNT. She played the clarinet in the North Texas Wind Symphony and was the principal clarinetist in the Concert Orchestra. Currently, Mrs. Bouras is the music instructor at Jess Harben Elementary in Richardson. Mrs. Bouras plays for the New Life Symphony and is the District Director for Mu Phi Episilon International Fraternity. She has been named Berkner Area Music Teacher of the Year and a RISD STAR teacher semi finalist. Currently, she is the Berkner Area Elementary Music Team Leader and leads the RISD Cultural Competency in Music Education committee. She has led numerous staff development sessions and presented a session at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) state conference called Mindful Movement, which shared her approach on teaching musicianship and movement through mindfulness practices. She is married to Basil, a high school band director, and together they have an adorable toddler named Evelyn.
MYO is also fortunate to have experienced volunteers at seamstress, set painting, program design, transportation, construction and house management. These parent volunteers are invaluable in helping us put our shows together in a timely manner and in giving them a professional polish.
