Lights, camera, action! The theatre department has welcomed a new director, Clark Reed, who is ready to rock the stage.

Reed has been teaching theatre for six years. His first theatre teaching position was at West Orange-Stark Middle School. Before he accepted the job at LCM, he was the Assistant Technical director at Lamar State College-Port Arthur. Now at LCM, Reed said he values how supportive, kind, and helpful the students and faculty have been. Since he has already seen several other high school theatre groups in Southeast Texas, Reed thinks very highly of the talent he has seen at LCM and is ready to help develop it even more.

“A State Championship would be nice,” Reed said. “The true goal, however, this year is always to do the best possible show and to have a show done as well as it can be done.”

Reed grew up in Snyder, Texas. Outside of work, he likes to go see plays, practice yoga, binge-watch television shows on Netflix, and play with his dog Sophia and his three cats Loki, Freya, and Dagdah. As a child, he desired to be a doctor, but realized that was not the path destined for him. He discovered his path when he was a junior in high school, where he played the lead for his school at the state level of the One Act Play competition and received a standing ovation in the Bass Concert Hall.  

“It was such a magical and amazing feeling to know my performance moved people,” Reed said. “I knew at that moment I was going to do theatre for the rest of my life.”

Reed said he had the opportunity to pursue professional acting, but realized educational theatre was his passion. He went to Texas State University for his Bachelor’s Degree and to Sul Ross State University for his Master’s Degree. Reed said he is very excited to implement what he has learned in his life to his new theatre students and create the ultimate amount of growth this year.

“Working with students and watching them grow as artists and performers is the best part of my job,” Reed said. “My favorite moment is when I see the light go off in a student’s head and they realize how smart and talented they really are.”