Theater teacher uses personal history to teach

He stood there, at the meeting spot of the fence and the stage, looking up at a comedian, who didn’t deserve the title by the standards of the audience, and watched as Michael Buble, the Michael Buble, kicked the stand-up off the stage and began setting up for his show, 45 minutes early.

Theater teacher Jeff Winkler, at the time, worked for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees [IATSE], whose job it was to help set up the stage, hang the lights, and check the sound equipment.

With this job, Winkler got to work with many bands including Green Day, Sugarcult, KC and the Sunshine Band, and various other artists.

“For three days [Green Day] practiced at the Coliseum in Fort Worth, so I got to help them. I watched them practice their concert,” Winkler said. “[I also met] Tre’ Cool, [Green Day’s drummer], who was talking to the drummer of Sugarcult, and just watching them talk was pretty cool.”

But before Winkler ever met the members of Green Day or even before they became famous, he received a cassette tape from a man at a local feed store in Russell, Kansas, of their debut album, Dookie.

“[While] I was driving around, I listened to Green Day and went ‘wow,’ because initially, [during] that time period, you didn’t hear [that] punk sound much,” Winkler said.

After he stopped working with the IATSE, Winkler joined the improv group More Phunner Fish, and started another group called Get A Clue Mystery, that staged mystery dinner theaters. Winkler also created a one man act show that was based off of events in his life to help him earn extra money.

“The name of the show was called ‘Senseless’ It was five different scenes, each based on a different sense,” Winkler said. “I toured it through Kansas, performed it in Missouri, Nebraska and once in Oklahoma.”

However, Winkler’s life before teaching wasn’t all music and theater. After his tour he worked with mental health patients, where he was part of a program that helped people who couldn’t help themselves. Some of his other jobs included working with the court system and deciding if incompetent people, or those who were labeled guilty by reason of insanity, should be allowed out into society.

“[When I] got burned out of [the court system], I went back to get my master’s degree,” Winkler said. “I have one in teaching and one in theater.”

In the beginning, he taught undergraduates and realized teaching was something he enjoyed doing.

“I really like watching people take the knowledge I give them, and then they run with it,” Winkler said.

In all, Winkler has been teaching for six years, five of which have been spent here in the theater department.

Sophomore Eduardo Ibarra said he appreciates all of what Winkler does.

“One thing I like about Mr. Winkler is that he is very supportive,” Ibarra said. “He encourages you to be the best you can be. [For example], in the beginning of his class, I had stage fright, and now I know how to control that because of him.”

From all of Winkler’s experiences as a teacher, he remembers one the most; when he helped one of his students get into college to pursue her passion.

“She said she wanted to be a nurse, but [she was worried about] the cost,” Winkler said. “We called up a nurse that I knew, and we figured out

the price and it wasn’t that much. It took 15, 20 minutes.”Periodically, this student has come back and visited Winkler.

“She said, ‘I had to write a paper to get a scholarship, and in the paper, you had to write about the three people that affected me the most. And I wrote about you,’” Winkler said. “I thought that was amazing for only talking to her once.”

While working with his students, Winkler said he has considered hosting a one-day pop culture class where he teaches students about people who have “made theater today.”

People like Ed Sullivan, Buster Keaton, and Laurel Hardy would be mentioned due to their marks on history and how they shaped modern theater. For example, Winkler said, Ed Sullivan is the reason reality TV exists today, Buster Keaton was the Jim Carrey of his time—producing physical comedy, and Laurel Hardy who was responsible for many of the sitcoms we have today. Other names like Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, and Red Skelton will be covered as well.

When he isn’t working on his lecture or teaching at school, Winkler is at home with his wife, Catherin, and baby daughter, Catherin Vaughn.

“It’s [awesome],” Winkler said. “I didn’t expect to have kids at my age, but it’s been really cool. Way cooler than I thought it would be. I was expecting [fatherhood] to be massively overwhelming, and it is. But not to the degree I thought it would be.”

From all the things Winkler has done and experienced, his daughter and his teaching are the things that are of great importance to him, he said. The joy of fatherhood and the rush of watching children take the knowledge he gives is what he cares for deeply.

“[It’s like I’m teaching] this one little pool,” Winkler said. “And they’re making an ocean out of it.”

Farmers' Harvest

Farmers' Harvest

Farmers' Harvest

Theater teacher uses personal history to teach

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