A Little Bit About Me!
I am equally passionate about theatre education, and have been honored to teach theatre to kids 4-14 years old! Over my years of lesson planning and teaching these kids, I have learned how to effectively instruct these age groups in styles that help them effectively learn and have fun! My goal is always to create a safe space where kids can express every emotion without being judged. I value knowing each child individually so I can know how to best provide a safe space for them.
To quote my students, "Catie's class is so slay, because she is so slay."
I have a deep passion for acting, and am fiercely committed to expanding my craft. I value professionalism and timeliness in a rehearsal room, and strive to model those qualities in myself and look to push myself to be better and learn from my fellow artists.
At Baldwin Wallace, I spent two years in the improvisation troupe, and I love bringing improvisational freedom into my work. I've been fortunate to explore a wide range of characters and genres in BW productions. I had the opportunity last year to play Irina in Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters which emphasized realism and I was able to immerse myself into a character like never before. I also toured with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night this summer with the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival. Not only did it deepen my love for Shakespeare, but it taught me adaptability and true ensemble storytelling.
What Have I Been Working On?
This summer I had the wonderful opportunity to share my love of theatre through touring around the outdoors of Cleveland, Ohio with the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival's production of Twelfth Night. I also got to work as a counselor at The Performing Arts Camp at the Beachwood JCC which is an extension of the Playmmakers Youth Theatre program!
With the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, I performed in a touring production where our cast and crew set up and struck the set before and after every every show! Working through literal heat waves and rainstorms taught me the stamina to bring full energy to each new audience at every show. It was a joy to reach communities all across Cleveland, especially families whose kids had never seen Shakespeare. One of my absolute favorite moments was a young girl shyly telling me that Olivia was her favorite character and perfectly recounting the plot despite it being her first Shakespeare experience. If you want to check out some photos from the experience click
At the JCC's Performing Arts camp, I was the lead counselors for a group of incoming second and third graders in the morning (my "home" group), and taught incoming K-8 in the afternoon. I had to lesson plan for the different age groups as well as write personal notes for each child in my home group every week. It was incredible to see how expressive and passionate these children were about theatre, and how theatre helped grow their confidence. I learned so much about patience and empathy from these children, and worked to push myself to create lesson plans that were enjoyable and feasible for each age group!
Example of a lesson plan I used for incoming second and third graders. More lesson plans or lesson plans for different age groups are available from my portfolio upon contact.
What's Next?
Right now, I’m finishing my final year at Baldwin Wallace University, and will be graduating in Spring 2026 with a Theatre: Acting & Directing major and a Film Studies minor. I'm currently getting ready for my Senior Acting Showcase which is on May 2nd at 8:30pm. If you can't catch it live, be sure to check out or digital showcase. More in information ! I cannot wait to share what all my hard work throughout college has culminated to, and I hope you'll consider checking out all the effort that our class has put into this! If you want to come along on my journey, follow me on Instagram @catiepopelka.