Knowing that feeling of stepping off the stage as the curtain closes makes her feel right at home. Although Christine DeFrancesco was in almost every play she had the opportunity to be a part of since she was eight, her passion to teach was an outstanding part of her and her family.

“I knew I would be working in the theater from the time I was pretty young. You have a passion and you’re lucky enough to find that when you’re young, and you stay with it,” DeFrancesco said.

Throughout her middle school and high school years, DeFrancesco knew she wanted to continue to have theater in her life. Many of her family members were educators, which had a factor in her inspiration to become a theater teacher.

Once in college, at a performing arts school, one class, in particular, opened her eyes to a different side of theater. In the directing class, DeFrancesco’s professor saw that she had a particular eye for the topic.

When it was finally time to settle down and start a family, it was a natural transition into directing.

Currently, DeFrancesco has been working at Huntley High School for eight years. However, this year, the majority of her classes she teaches have been theater.

She knows that there are many different kinds of students that join her class including students who want to pursue a career in acting and those who were placed in the class for either a slight interest, to join friends, or their parents want them to take the class.

“Artists by nature are different,“ DeFrancisco said. “In high school, that’s a really hard thing: to willingly be different.“

DeFrancesco accepts all students who join throughout the semester and teaches them how to be more confident speaking, how to deconstruct a script, and much more.

“I want these kids to have a place where they feel they are at home, and I want to start a relationship with all my students,” DeFrancesco said.