Milwaukie, Oregon
Fresh out of Western Oregon State College with an undergraduate degree in secondary ed (double major in language arts and theatre arts and a minor in music), Scott Walker landed his first full-time teaching job at Milwaukie (Oregon) High School in 1992. He’s still there.
As the only adult responsible for the school’s extracurricular theatre arts program, Mr. Walker immediately saw the value of a network of peers, and he became involved in Oregon Thespians that same year. By 1997 he was a member of the Oregon Thespians board, and he has served as a board member off and on since then, including serving as EdTA chapter director from 2001-03. He also served as president of the Oregon Theatre Educators’ Association from 1999-2001, during which time Portland hosted the EdTA National Conference.
In 2007, he completed his M.F.A. in theatre at the University of Portland and, that same year, helped to charter Milwaukie Academy of the Arts, a public charter school housed at and cross-enrolled with Milwaukie High School. His school has hosted Oregon’s Improvisation Festival and Regional Acting Competition multiple times.
“I have seen my program wax to a full-time theatre position and wane to its low of one all-inclusive drama class,” M. Walker wrote of his years at Milwaukie. “Having just completed my twenty-second year of teaching theatre at Milwaukie High School, I plan on being there until I decide to retire.”
“Scott’s intense passion for theatre education, his students, and his peers is why he is my hero,” wrote Zena in his Hall of Fame nomination. “And hero to so many others.”
