AUTOBIO
Overview:
This Lauren Ray finished high school in 2005 at Jackson Academy, and she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi in May 2009 with majors in French and Theatre Arts. In the fall of 2016, she completed her Master of Science in Strategic Communication from Purdue University.
After undergrad, Lauren taught French, music, and theatre at Marshall Academy in Holly Springs, MS, during the 2009-2010 school year, and in 2010, she moved to Aix-en-Provence, France to spend a school year teaching English in a lycée - or high school - there. After that, Lauren returned to the Jackson-Metro area to teach secondary French and theatre, and she now lives in Madison with her husband, Jason, and their cat, NESsy.
Undergraduate Experience:
At the University of Mississippi, she had extensive coursework in choreography, directing and acting. While at Ole Miss, Lauren worked in costume and set design and construction and performed with both Mississippi: The Dance Company and Showstoppers. Lauren was a member of the University of Mississippi Speech and Debate team and participated in several regional competitions.
She studied abroad in London, England, and in Angers, France, and those experiences, combined with her time in Aix, allow her to offer international perspective to young students of language and culture. Experience in extracurricular activities in both high school and college heightened Lauren's awareness and appreciation of the benefits of exposure to a wide range of opportunities in the arts. She has more than twenty years of dance experience and has trained to perform both opera and contemporary vocal music.
Graduate School Experience:
Lauren completed her Master of Science degree in Strategic Communication from Purdue University in the fall of 2016. She is proud to have maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her coursework!
Professional Experience:
Lauren taught French, theatre, speech & debate, and oral communications at Germantown High School in Madison, MS, from 2011 until 2015. There, she worked with high school students in extracurricular activities and interdisciplinary programs, directing three musicals, three straight plays, and two ridiculously fast 10-minute play festivals; competing in two regional one-act-play festivals; taking students to three speech & debate national competitions and many local ones; and building theatre and speech & debate programs from the ground up.
In August 2015, she returned to Jackson Academy to build a theatre arts program and a speech & debate team. During her first year at JA, Lauren directed Into the Woods, Numbers, and Mutually Assured Destruction and resurrected the JA Speech & Debate team, which attended ten tournaments including the NCFL Grand National tournament in Sacramento, CA.
The 2016-2017 school year saw even more incredible success! In the fall of 2016, Lauren directed 42nd Street and then took Tammy: A Coming of Age Story About a Girl Who is Part T-Rex to the North Mississippi High School Drama Festival. Additionally, she attended the Mississippi Theatre Association State Festival with eleven students in January 2017. There, JA students won awards in the secondary individual events festival and the 10-minute play festival, and Lauren, with friend and duet partner, Roxie Hood, received first place in duet musical at the adult individual events festival.
Lauren accepted the position as head coach of the Northwest Rankin High School speech and debate team, NWR Speaks in the summer of 2017. She currently teaches oral communication, dual credit public speaking, and debate; coaches NWR Speaks; and consults extensively with the Northwest Rankin Thespians.
This Lauren Ray finished high school in 2005 at Jackson Academy, and she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi in May 2009 with majors in French and Theatre Arts. In the fall of 2016, she completed her Master of Science in Strategic Communication from Purdue University.
After undergrad, Lauren taught French, music, and theatre at Marshall Academy in Holly Springs, MS, during the 2009-2010 school year, and in 2010, she moved to Aix-en-Provence, France to spend a school year teaching English in a lycée - or high school - there. After that, Lauren returned to the Jackson-Metro area to teach secondary French and theatre, and she now lives in Madison with her husband, Jason, and their cat, NESsy.
Undergraduate Experience:
At the University of Mississippi, she had extensive coursework in choreography, directing and acting. While at Ole Miss, Lauren worked in costume and set design and construction and performed with both Mississippi: The Dance Company and Showstoppers. Lauren was a member of the University of Mississippi Speech and Debate team and participated in several regional competitions.
She studied abroad in London, England, and in Angers, France, and those experiences, combined with her time in Aix, allow her to offer international perspective to young students of language and culture. Experience in extracurricular activities in both high school and college heightened Lauren's awareness and appreciation of the benefits of exposure to a wide range of opportunities in the arts. She has more than twenty years of dance experience and has trained to perform both opera and contemporary vocal music.
Graduate School Experience:
Lauren completed her Master of Science degree in Strategic Communication from Purdue University in the fall of 2016. She is proud to have maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her coursework!
Professional Experience:
Lauren taught French, theatre, speech & debate, and oral communications at Germantown High School in Madison, MS, from 2011 until 2015. There, she worked with high school students in extracurricular activities and interdisciplinary programs, directing three musicals, three straight plays, and two ridiculously fast 10-minute play festivals; competing in two regional one-act-play festivals; taking students to three speech & debate national competitions and many local ones; and building theatre and speech & debate programs from the ground up.
In August 2015, she returned to Jackson Academy to build a theatre arts program and a speech & debate team. During her first year at JA, Lauren directed Into the Woods, Numbers, and Mutually Assured Destruction and resurrected the JA Speech & Debate team, which attended ten tournaments including the NCFL Grand National tournament in Sacramento, CA.
The 2016-2017 school year saw even more incredible success! In the fall of 2016, Lauren directed 42nd Street and then took Tammy: A Coming of Age Story About a Girl Who is Part T-Rex to the North Mississippi High School Drama Festival. Additionally, she attended the Mississippi Theatre Association State Festival with eleven students in January 2017. There, JA students won awards in the secondary individual events festival and the 10-minute play festival, and Lauren, with friend and duet partner, Roxie Hood, received first place in duet musical at the adult individual events festival.
Lauren accepted the position as head coach of the Northwest Rankin High School speech and debate team, NWR Speaks in the summer of 2017. She currently teaches oral communication, dual credit public speaking, and debate; coaches NWR Speaks; and consults extensively with the Northwest Rankin Thespians.