Professional Development Offerings

In 2025 TTEA provided over 30 hours of Professional Development in all three grand divisions of the state. You can see some examples below.  Keep an Eye out here for this years offerings.  Our Professional Development currently centers around three statewide conferences; Tennessee Theatre Association Tennessee Thespian Conference & All State Theatre Conference and the Unified Vision Partnership.  Keep an eye out here for specific times and topics as they are determined.   For other resources & lesson plans see our Curriculum Page

All State Theatre Conference

Watertown High School  February 21,  2026

February 21 9:00-10:30am 

TBA

February 21 10:30am -12 pm

Upcoming Theatre Standards Revisions . Presenter: Atticus Hensley, Fine Arts Manager, TDOE

With: Kara Kindall, Coordinator of Performing Arts, MNPS; Danielle Smallwood, THSSDL Executive Director, Sevier County Schools.

 (1.5 hrs credit) 

Theatre Standards revisions will come into effect in 2028/29. Get a head start with this session presented by the Tennessee Department of Education in collaboration with TTEA. 

Atticus Hensley is the Fine Arts Manager for the Tennessee Department of Education where he oversees Fine Arts Standards revisions, teacher training, and all things Fine Arts. Previously he has worked as a private brass instructor, brass tech, band arranger/composer, teaching assistant, and middle school band director. Atticus served as the Fine Arts Coordinator for Tullahoma City Schools before moving to TDOE. He also was the facilitator for the Arts Leadership track of the Tennessee Arts Academy for ten years where he became deeply involved with arts education associations across the state. As part of his job with TDOE, Atticus maintains close relationships with TMEA, TAEA, TETA, TTEA, THSSDL, ArtsEdTN, and other regional arts education groups. He lives in Murfreesboro with his own teacher hero Caroline. 

February 21 1:30-3:00pm 

Teaching Technical Theatre & the BACKstage Exam     Presenter: Dana W. Taylor, USITT

 (1.5 hrs credit) 

Dana W. Taylor will highlight the USITT/EdTA BACKstage Exam, share CTE-aligned curricular resources for technical theatre, and explain why positioning Technical Theatre as a CTE pathway strengthens student career readiness and program sustainability. 

Dana Taylor spent over twenty-five years teaching technical theatre at the Mt. Vernon Senior High School. Dana served as the technical editor for "Dramatics Magazine," "Teaching Theatre Journal," and "Basic Drama Projects": 9th Edition. Dana is an ETCP Certified Rigger-Theatre (Certification #4428) and an ETCP Recognized Trainer for Theatre. He received the Founder's Award from the Educational Theatre Association and the Distinguished Achievement Award for Education from USITT. Dana served as a Director for ESTA and USITT and now focuses on secondary school initiatives, including the BACKstage Exam and BACKstage+ training initiative.

February 21 3:00-4:30pm   TBA

February 21 4:30-5:30pm  

Directors Roundtable Presenter: Donald Fann, President TTEA

 (1 hr credit) 

Join this roundtable to unpack the Tennessee All State Theatre audition process, from categories and rubrics to logistics and student prep, and to share best practices for supporting participation across schools. We’ll also discuss key TTEA initiatives and how educators can plug in, collaborate, and help expand opportunities for Tennessee theatre students statewide.

DONALD FANN teaches theatre at Stewarts Creek High School where he was selected as The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, Teacher of the Year and launched the Tennessee All State Theatre Auditions. He served for 19 years as Executive Director of the Arts Center of Cannon County, which became a national model for Rural Community Arts Organizations and where he founded the Grammy Award winning record label Spring Fed Records. He has received the Tennessee Governor’s Award for the Arts and is a former Board Chair of both Tennesseans for the Arts and for Humanities Tennessee and is a guest director at Cumberland County Playhouse. He serves as President of Tennessee Theatre Educators Association, Board member and Secondary Division Chair for the Tennessee Theatre Association and as a Commissioner on the Tennessee Arts Commission.  His extensive theatrical background includes over 250 credits for directing, design, and performance.