“I grew up in Foley. My grandfather was the local butcher, and he had a grocery store just off Highway 98. I went to school here my whole life, but I was a bit of an anomaly. Into musical theater, and just a little different. I wanted to get out and see what the rest of the world looked like. So I went 700 miles away to Texas Christian University to figure out who I was and what I wanted.

The plan was to be a professional actor in New York. But after graduation, I came home to save some money, then see if I was ready. I had an opportunity to join the Presbyterian Mission Agency, something like the Peace Corps, and spend a year working with underprivileged youth in Washington D.C. But COVID happened and put the kibosh on that.

I needed a new plan. I was working at the Polo Factory Outlet, thinking I might want to be a teacher. I already had a theater degree, but figured I’d be more marketable if I taught another subject. I applied for a master’s in secondary English education at the University of South Alabama.

Two weeks before school started, an English position popped up at my old high school. I wasn’t certified yet, but I called my former principal and said, ‘I know this is totally out there, but I heard there’s a thing called emergency certification.’ He said, ‘Be in my office tomorrow. The only applicant so far lives in Alaska.’

I was hired the day before school started in the fall 2020. I was starting my master’s degree, teaching 9th and 10th-grade English, and running the theater program. It was a rough couple of years figuring it all out. But now, five years in, we’ve built something special, even with limitations.

We don’t have our own theater. Funding can be a struggle. Some of the kids have never set foot on a stage, but I want them to feel safe and welcomed and affirmed. I had a good experience in school and want to give them the same. 

I’ve always been drawn to performers who take up space: Tina Turner, Elton John, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Mick Jagger. They command the stage. That’s what I try to pass on to my students: Be big. Be bold.

When I was a kid, my parents put me in all of the sports, but that wasn’t happening. Then my mom rented the film version of Cats; I watched it every day. She eventually just bought it. Around the same time, Cher released Believe, and my mom had it on cassette. She also recorded Cher’s concert when it aired on TV. It was that mix of Cher and Cats that hooked me. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I wanted to do that.

In third grade, I did my first show, The Jungle Book, with two ladies who ran a little theater in Summerdale. They became my mentors. I stayed with them all through high school.

One of my middle school dance instructors introduced me to Brandi Carlile through her song ‘The Story.’ I kept up with Brandi’s music. When I was working overnight at Polo, she released the By the Way, I Forgive You album. I’d listen to it while folding clothes. Then the song ‘The Joke’ came along, and I felt seen. Now, when I hear it, I think about my kids and cry.

I went to Brandi’s Mothership Weekend concert in Florida with my best friend, Tina. She had lost her husband. I told her the concert had Brandi Carlile playing with Sarah Bareilles and Bonnie Raitt, and we’re going. We found out Mothership is a place where you can be yourself and lift each other up. I wish I could take my students there so they’d know what that kind of love and safety feels like.

I wanted to do Brandioke at Mothership this year and sing with Brandi onstage. One day after school, I sat down and recorded ‘You and Me on the Rock.’ It was a terrible recording, but I sent it in. Somehow, I got an email that said, ‘You’re singing with Brandi!’

There was no rehearsal for Brandioke at Mothership. No soundcheck. Just walk onto a big stage and sing with Brandi Carlile and her band. I usually get nervous before I perform. Good nerves. But that day, I was just enjoying it. I could feel the instruments. The crowd. The love. I thought, ‘Somebody better hand me a microphone. I’m ready to go.’

The song started low for me, and Brandi picked up on it. Next time around, she sang the melody, and I harmonized. We locked in, and I didn’t hold back. Figuring out parts in the middle of the song with Brandi was exciting. We both had to be present. 

Afterward, I thought, ‘You crushed that.’ It was joy. It felt like the beginning of a new era. I’m still figuring that out. Every day I tell my kids to chase their dreams, be themselves. And I ask myself, am I doing the same?

One of my favorite writers, Frederick Buechner, said your calling is where your deepest hunger meets the world’s greatest need. Oscar Hammerstein wrote in The King and I, ‘If you become a teacher, by your pupils you’ll be taught.’ Teaching has been that for me. My students have changed me. 

I’m still chasing. Still dreaming. Teaching and performing gives me something new every day.”

Logan