NAME:
Laurie Jo Koster
SCHOOL:
Pearl River High (base)
CLASS:
Talented Theatre/ Pearl River High School/Riverside Elementary/ Sixth Ward Elementary/Alton Elementary/ TAP Teacher Accessor
SCHOOL PHONE:
985-863-2591
I am a 1984 graduate of The University of Pittsburgh/ Johnstown
Pennsylvania. I hold a Bachelor of Arts Dual degree in
Theatre/Speech Communications. This is my 11th year with the TAP Program and
at PRHS. I recently have been named to Who's Who Among America's Teachers
(2005-2006) and Cambridge's Who's Who Among Professional Women Teacher's in
Education (2006) I am also very honored to have been chosen as the 2008-2009
Teacher of the Year for Pearl River High School.
I have been on stage performing since the age of 3 for
audiences throughout the city of Pittsburgh. I have taken 11 years of
piano, 11 years of formal voice training and 10 years of dance. At the age
of 17, I placed 1st internationally in Quebec Canada in voice at a classical
vocal competition.
At the age of 19, I opened shows for Sammy Davis Jr. at Heinz Hall in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Upon graduation from college, I auditioned for
Holland America Cruise Line and acted as the First lady of the M/V Nieuw
Amsterdam, M/V Westerdam and the S/S Rotterdam as Social Hostess having my
own show three nights a week including a midnight cabaret act. I have sailed
on 3 world cruises and have been to every part of the globe to date.
I met my husband Daan, a 2nd Engineer on the Nieuw Amsterdam and married in
1990. We moved overseas to Durban, South Africa where I entertained in the 5
Star Royal Hotel until having children. I have two talented, vivacious
daughters, Nicole and Danielle, both who were in the TAP Program. Both are
graduates of Pearl River High as well. Nicole however, is a Sophomore at
Northwestern State University majoring in Biology with the intent to become a
Doctor in the future. Danielle is now a Freshmen at NSU (with her sister) and
majoring in Secondary English Education with the intent of one day becoming a
Principal! Yes folks, I feel OLD! I am an animal lover and have an adorable
but grumpy Shih-Tzu named Baxter and a wonderful Lab/ mix named Barou. In our
spare time we enjoy traveling in our summer months off. My passion is white
chocolate and gourmet coffees.
Always remember: Reach for the stars..you never know where they will take you.
Life is a banquet....INDULDGE AND ENJOY!
I teach theatre from a professional point of view. I believe that
professionalism is a state of mind and attitude. I believe this to be an
important aspect of performing any job and want to pass along self-
discipline to my students. We will study 4 aspects of theatre:
Acting/Performance,Technical, History including Literature, and Critique. My
goal is to help students experience all aspects of this collabortive art and
prepare them for professional and or community/ensemble theatre.
