Area teacher honored for 35 years of service


	Area teacher honored for 35 years of service

Release Date:

August 2, 2008

Press Release:

Killeen Daily Herald

She tutored Love.....

by Bill Begley
Killeen Daily Herald

At one point, not so long ago, Kitty LaBay's passion waned, and she considered leaving Ellison High School.

That is, until she heard from a primary source of her passion her son, Monte.

"He told me, 'Oh no, you can't leave Ellison you still have too much left to do,'" she said.

That passion is still alive in LaBay, even with her recent retirement after 35 years as a teacher for the Killeen Independent School District including the final 27 years as a drama teacher at Ellison.

LaBay's friends and family will celebrate her career with a gathering today, 3 to 5 p.m., at the Fellowship Hall of the First Baptist Church in Killeen.

The one person who helped her complete that run Monte, a 1993 graduate of Ellison won't be there. At least, not physically. He was the victim of a heart defect, passing away at the age of 23 in January 1999.

But, LaBay said, he will be there in spirit ... just as he has been always.

"He was always such a big part of the program," LaBay said. "Monte really should be there with me, but really, he is and always has been."

LaBay studied theater at Southwestern University in Georgetown and film and television during graduate school at UCLA. She began teaching at Rancier Middle School, later moving to Fairway Middle School, and then finally landing at Ellison in 1981, just three years after the high school opened.

From the beginning, her goal was to infuse students with the same passion for theater and life that drove her.

"On our first day, our principal asked us what our goals were as teachers," LaBay said. "I told him mine was to provide a positive learning experience and instill the love of the theater in just one student. He said, 'Just one?' And I said, 'Yes, just one ... at a time.'

"And I worked hard to do that for at least one student a year every that year I taught."

That passion was contagious, however, and Michelle Trujillo-Wulf, a 1997 graduate of Ellison, said LaBay's lessons were indiscriminate, reaching students from all walks of life.

"The one thing I loved about Kitty is she accepted everybody," said Trujillo-Wulf, who began working with LaBay as a cast member in a play as a second-grader and now is post-production coordinator for the senior vice president of post-production at ABC television.

"Theater kids came from all sorts of walks of life," said Trujillo-Wulf, who was a drama teacher for KISD for five years before heading to Hollywood. "But that didn't matter to Kitty. She worked hard and loved all of them. She taught us to work as a team, that we all had important roles to play whether you were the star of the production or running back stage. She made you feel important that was her gift."

One LaBay shared willingly.

"I think one of the things she did best was she always found a place for any kid who was willing to be there," said Ellison Principal Marvin Rainwater. "She would take kids that you would not ordinarily expect to see involved with a play and she would find a role for them.

"She always worked hard at finding ways for kids to find out more about themselves. She pushed them to explore who they were and to help them find the talent within themselves, and that went a long way in helping making things at the high school easier to handle."

That inclusive approach paid off, with LaBay's program earning recognition from the University Interscholastic League in its one-act play competition something she called "a victory for the kids."

"We did a lot of plays about teens and their awareness of physical and psychological issues," said LaBay, whose program won a statewide competition in 1990 with a groundbreaking play on the subject of AIDS.

"They did that through their roles. To play someone else, you have to analyze what that character is like, why they feel or act a certain way. Often, that led to understanding themselves better."

LaBay followed her own direction after Monte's death, directing "Kaleidoscope," a play based on a short story by science fiction legend Ray Bradbury. The piece deals with death, and was Monte's suggestion for the senior play that school year.

"After Monte died, I didn't think I could possibly deal with a play about confronting death," LaBay said, "but one of the kids said, 'Yes, you can, because Monte would want you to.' And, he was right, and we did the play."

Retirement won't quell LaBay's passion or slow her down. She said she has been asked to help with the Salado Legends group, and plans to remain active with theater groups in Sun City and Georgetown.

"I used to tell my students that they could either love me or hate me," said LaBay, who once tutored TV and film star Jennifer Love-Hewitt, "but however they reacted to me, the most important thing was to do so with passion not apathy."

Because, in the end, passion lives on.