Tonya S. Williams is a professional actress, singer, and songwriter. But above all, she’s a true educator. Before joining ECM, Tonya was a certified Theatre Arts teacher for CCSD and DD2 for 7 years. A College of Charleston alumni with a BA in Theatre Arts, Tonya has over 17 years experience training and educating children in the arts. When she is not teaching she is performing all over the Low Country & East coast, singing and acting. She is an independent recording artist (Tonya Nicole) and a Core Ensemble member at PURE Theatre located Downtown Charleston. She uses her talents to infuse Theatre & Music into the core curriculum. No subject is off limits for her. Her lessons are full of creativity; from creating songs & poems, and even SuperHero characters & costumes about Math & Science, to creating & performing skits about historical figures and events. Tonya strongly believes “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ~ Albert Einstein

1) SUPER POWER - (5th grade Science) Students will use Theatre Arts to explore and demonstrate a better understanding of states of matter. By the end of the week, students will be able to identify and explain science vocabulary words that relate to states of matter and they will demonstrate what they have learned by creating a Super Hero character w/ Superpowers & their costumes, based on states of matter.

2) STORYTIME - (Kindergarten/ELA) Students will use Theatre Arts to explore and demonstrate a better understanding of storytelling. By the end of the week, students will be able to identify key components in storytelling; character, setting, & plot structure. They will also gain knowledge of new theatre vocabulary. As their final project, they will create their own stories and characters with paper puppets.

3) LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION - (3rd - 8th grade ELA) Students will explore drama standards and vocabulary based on their grade level. They will analyze 3 works of theater art. Focusing on plot structure, setting, character, costume design, and other theater and ELA vocabulary, students will recreate stories and perform.