A swarm of students surrounds Kris Kissel in Sabino High School's Little Theater and performs an impromptu rap about the drama teacher.
Barely visible in the huddle, Kissel manages a sheepish grin before gathering the students for a rehearsal of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Unless you'd met him before encountering this riotous performance, you could easily mistake Kissel as another student. Though he's 35, his goatee barely hides a boyish face that could pass for 18. Or maybe 20.
Even while watching rehearsal, Kissel seems to blend in with the students sitting in the seats. A couple of times, though, he steps onto the stage to move an actor to his mark or offer quiet direction.
Students say Kissel is the real deal. "I think he gives an entirely new meaning to the word teacher," said Melissa Granados, 18, a student in the advanced drama class.
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"Everything he does makes me a better actor," said junior Josh Fowler, 17.
Staff members at the University of Arizona's School of Theatre Arts agree, which is why they named Kissel teacher of the year as part of their fourth annual Theatre in Our Schools celebration. Kissel will be honored at Sabino on Friday at a ceremony for Theatre in Our Schools Day.
"We look for a teacher who has a quality program and offers a good theater experience for the student," said Laura McCammon, teacher certification program coordinator at the UA's School of Theatre Arts. "His students get a real good experience. He really cares about what he teaches."
Some of the highlights of Kissel's work at Sabino include mentoring a student teacher, teaching freshmen about playwriting and creating a kids' play each year for elementary school students.
It was a high school production of "Arsenic and Old Lace" at Palo Verde High Magnet School that gave Kissel a glimmer of a possibility of a career in theater. "Theater has that kind of addictive quality of having an audience in the palm of your hand and the ability to affect others," he said.
He thought of many options for a major at the UA before settling on teaching drama. He got a job at Mountain View High School in 1996 and moved to Sabino the following year.
Kissel doesn't think anything he does in his class is unique, choosing instead to praise the work all high school drama teachers are doing in Tucson.
"Tucson is a great drama community," he said. "I think we all do the same thing as far as teaching. I don't think I've done anything new or different in 10 years."
His teaching style has influenced Granados to pursue an acting career. "He's created an atmosphere that has students flocking into the Little Theater every day," she said.
If you go
What: "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
When: 7 p.m. May 2-4.
Where: Sabino High School courtyard, 5000 N. Bowes Road.
Cost: Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students.
For more information: Call 584-7700.
