CALDWELL, Texas — Elizabeth Fuentes has always been a quiet person.
She's a senior who moved to Caldwell ISD three years ago, and it took a while for her to break out of her shell.
But that all changed once she joined theatre, and she owes it all to her teacher, Chase Owen.
"I was very hesitant and I was not very intrigued in theatre, but then one day, i just told myself freshman year I’m going to join," Fuentes said.
But she's not the only person who saw his impact.
Now, the school is the recipient of the Texas Educational Theatre Association Inc.'sOutstanding School of Distinction Award for its high school theatre program.
Owen has been teaching in the district for four years, but his journey in theater started at Woodville High School where he directed and acted himself.
After finding a passion for the art, he went to Texas A&M University Corpus Christi where he earned his bachelor's degree in theatre and he recently earned his Master of Arts in theatre at Texas A&M Commerce.
He, then, landed a position as theatre director at both Junior High and High School campuses at Caldwell ISD.
But the program wasn't always as robust.
Dr. Jason Levin, director of fine arts, says the school has a history of an exceptional theatre program, but after previous theatre director and founder of the program Lou-Ida Marsh's retired, the program took a dip, finishing at the bottom of the district.
"We were a relatively small program. We had some really rock star students, but we were just kind of learning the basics and the foundations of theatre education side," Owen said.
Now, he's helping restore the program to its former glory, doubling the number of students in the program, winning acting and ensemble awards and teaching everything from back stage production like designing sets to being in the spotlight.
The district has even had to hire a second theatre teacher to keep up with all the students in the program now.
"Just to be one of the smallest schools that won that district of distinction award —it's based on criteria, so the fact that he was able to do all that criteria by himself as the only theatre teacher, I'm just really, really proud of him," Levin said.
The award is based on criteria like curriculum and leadership, and Owen says only a handful of schools are selected for the award.
Now, the district is filling up auditoriums and even having to make standing room for performances.
But it's not about the reward for him.
It's about pushing his students to be the best they can.
"Sometimes you need a little push to say, ‘Hey what you’re learning matters and what you’re doing matters and you get recognized for it and so it’s not about me. It’s about them," Owen said.
Other students like Chloe Taylor who's always had a passion for theatre since middle school are improving every day in the program.
"He’s [Owen] not afraid to point out my mistakes that’s for sure. He always tells me what i need to work on or it’s something like ‘Hey don’t do that, that’s not right. That’s just wrong,'" Taylor said.
She and Fuentes see themselves as either teaching theatre or coming back to the school to help with future productions, respectively.
Fuentes, though, believes Owen is well-deserving of the award.
"I don’t think I’ve met a kind and considerate teacher like him. He’s a very good director in wanting to keep on pushing us to become even bigger and better actors," Fuentes said.
To see more of Owen and his students, you can attend performances of their play, "James and the Giant Peach" on Nov. 2 and Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. at the Lou-Ida Auditorium.