Olympia, Washington
Leslie Moon Van Leishout feels the most exceptional production of her life is her family: her husband of thirty-three years, their six grown children, and a grandson.
Ms. Van Leishout holds a B.A. in theatre education with six teaching endorsements and an M.A. in educational leadership with a principal certificate. She began teaching theatre in Utah in 1980. She then taught in California and then in Washington state, where she has lived for the last fifteen years. Throughout her career, she has worked with a variety of organizations including the Vancouver Film School and the Washington Shakespeare Festival. She is now the theatre education coordinator at Southern Illinois University.
She served as Thespian troupe director for River Ridge High School, co-chapter director of Washington State Thespians, and as a member of EdTA’s Advocacy Taskforce and the Individual Events Adjudication Rubric Committee. In 2010, she was named to the Washington State Thespian Hall of Fame. Her department at River Ridge was twice named outstanding high school theatre by EdTA.
From 2001-11, Ms. Van Leishout worked with the Washington State Superintendent’s Office of Public Instruction writing arts-learning standards, grade-level expectations, and assessments.
