Karen Erickson is a certified K-12 educator, playwright, published author, poet, stage director and Executive Director of Creative Directions of Illinois. She is a pioneer of integrating drama into the K-12 classroom. She has worked for the John F. Kennedy Center’s Teaching Artist/Workshop Leader and Alliance Programs for over 30 years. She has written more than fifteen produced plays: some for adult audiences and some for youth audiences. Erickson graduated from Illinois State University in 1970 and earned her Masters in 1977. Erickson began her career in Downers Grove, Illinois inside the classroom teaching English and Creative Speaking where she first began incorporating drama into her English lessons, which bloomed into an expansive theatre program. During this time she also worked with other teachers incorporating drama into their traditional subject lessons. Blending her two passions, theater and education, has been one of the biggest joys of her professional life.
While on a sabbatical from teaching, she was given the opportunity to assist legendary playwright Tennessee Williams at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Erickson jumped at the opportunity. She worked as Assistant Director and Assistant to Mr. Williams on two productions. Shortly after her work at the Goodman, she began coaching and advising local playwrights. This work was followed by 10 years in Evanston as Trinity Square Ensemble Theatre’s Artistic Director where she produced world premieres, Midwest premieres, and timeless classics. She was commissioned to write, direct, and produce plays for the Shedd Aquarium, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Chicago Botanical Gardens. While Erickson was artistically filled, she was inexplicable drawn back into the classroom as a teaching artist/artist in residence where her unique approach to arts integration (melding drama into the teaching of other traditional subjects) garnered praise and attention.
Soon Erickson was consulting for the State Board of Education in Springfield, Illinois. She served on the Board of the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education for 18 years, serving three of those as President of the Board. Other organizations who sought her work included the Illinois Arts Council, Urban Gateways, Chicago Arts Partners for Education (C.A.P.E.) and over 50 school districts statewide, including the Chicago and Evanston Public Schools. In the early ‘90s, she was asked to begin work creating state and national standards and assessments. That work led to her developing a full drama curriculum for K-8 teachers. As she began traveling across Illinois providing professional development and demonstrating drama techniques in the classroom, young students began to affectionately call her “The Drama Lady” and adults dubbed her “Lady K.” Her Illinois work brought her to the attention of the Kennedy Center where she had the opportunity to expand her work to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Her international work has included the United Kingdom, France, Malta, Canada, Russia, Guatemala, Scotland, Austria, Iran, and Belgium.
While there were many people along the way that doubted arts integration was a viable educational strategy she fearlessly continued her work, traveling to share her expertise and then rushing back to Evanston to direct, write the next play, or perform. Over the years, Erickson’s work has transformed countless lives and proven the value of drama in the classroom. One young girl, who was a selective mute, spoke for the first time during a classroom workshop where she was a princess slaying a dragon. Another student, a young man in high school, who had a reputation as a student who couldn’t read, shocked everyone with his performances in Erickson’s high school productions–one even being a Shakespearean play–and earned a state award of best actor. These stories highlight the overriding theme of Erickson’s work, “Drama is the missing link in teaching literacy and getting students to understand and enjoy reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Theater is not a frill, it is a basic subject and learning medium for all subjects.” Her work in the classroom and on the stage has been a springboard for many creative careers and allowed her to work with notable artists. She worked with Fred and Ben Savage, David Mamet, and Stephen Colbert, directing him in his first professional production. Many of her students found careers in the theater arts. One is a producer on Broadway, and many others work in television and film. She was also able to become friends with legendary actress and teacher Uta Hagen.
Erickson has worked hard to make her knowledge available to educators across the nation and world. She has published ten guides/books for curriculum development and created her own online store OneStopDRAMAshop.com. She has hundreds of lesson plans, stories for dramatization, poetry for drama, classroom activities, assessments and more available for teachers to purchase and use immediately in their classrooms. The store has options for all grade levels, subjects, and skills and makes her unique approach in the classroom available to everyone, not just those who are able to attend her workshops. She is adamant about bringing her artistry to everything she creates both on stage and in the classrooms.