In The News: Saying goodbye to 'Fergie'

Longtime NHS drama teacher will retire after 20 years

“You know what you’re talking about, can you help?”

For anybody that knows the aforementioned “you,” Newberg High School drama teacher Drea Ferguson, that’s an astounding understatement.

But that question is also what set Ferguson down the path she’s taken over the past 25-plus years, one that has seen her become an award-winning educator, inspirational leader, fierce advocate for students and, for all intents and purposes, tour de force and living institution at Newberg High School.

Those were the words Ferguson, known to most as “Fergie,” heard from the director when she accompanied her son to his first play as a West Linn third grade student in the late 1980s.

That simple request has been on her mind of late because after 20 years at NHS, Ferguson recently announced she will retire at the end of the school year.

“There were a lot of reasons, but the No. 1 reason is that I became a grandma last fall and I want to be a grandma,” Ferguson said. “I adore these kids, but I’m besotted with my grandson.”

A year after volunteering to help with her son’s first play, Ferguson was hired to run an after-school drama program at West Linn High School.

After earning a master’s degree in teaching from Willamette University, which lists her as one of its notable alumni, Ferguson was hired at NHS in 1995, at which point there was no theater, let alone a drama program. Her advocacy for students and the success of her burgeoning program were the driving forces behind the construction of a state-of-the-art theater in 2004.

Ferguson has put many of her own resources into the theater, including a large portion of the $25,000 she received along with the prestigious Milken Award in 2003.

Her dedication to students and passion for theater, especially Shakespeare, lie at the heart of everything the native of Scotland does.

After starting at Newberg, Ferguson pursued a master’s degree in theater at Central Washington University, in part because it would allow her to offer college credit for some courses at the high school.

Just as importantly, she set out to show that high school students capably perform Shakespeare for her thesis.

“When I got my review back from my committee, the professor that taught Shakespeare and had written the book ‘Clues to Acting Shakespeare’ said that not only did I prove high school students could do Shakespeare, but that they could do it well,” Ferguson said. “That was the biggest compliment that I could have got from him because he was a very hard taskmaster.”

If her thesis didn’t prove it her career at NHS certainly has. The high school troupe produces three full-scale plays per year, including one by Shakespeare each spring, for which her Shakespeare class spends the entire year preparing.

“She has created one of the most noted programs in our community,” assistant principal Dan Malone said. “She has made Shakespeare a word that kids know what to do, how to do and when to do.”

One key to the success of those productions, and the program overall, is that Ferguson puts so much control in the hands of her students.

“As a teacher and drama advisor, I think her biggest strength is her commitment to honoring students’ voice,” former Green School principal Karen Pugsley said. “Her kids are always involved, even in decision making. She respects and trusts students to be mature and capable and because of that they are.”

Her dedication and ability to connect with every kind of student has endeared her to everyone in the program, which seems to run off her infectious energy and laughter, which is often heard well in advance of actually seeing her.

“Being around Drea is like being around a force of nature,” Pugsley said. “She’s like this perfect storm with positive energy. It’s like a tsunami of joy.”

At the same time, Ferguson can also be a demanding task-master, holding her students to incredibly high standards. The combination of her passion and expectations is a powerful one for students.

“She knows how to lead and push people to their absolute best without breaking,” junior Alex Foufus said. “No matter what, she has unlocked this potential in (me) that I never knew I had, that a lot of people never knew they had.”

The power of her teaching model was demonstrated in 2013, when the troupe was selected to perform in the American High School Theater Festival during the famous Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Not only was it a homecoming for Ferguson and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the students, but their performance was so strong that the program basically earned a standing invitation to return.

Capped by an invitation from festival organizers to perform outdoors on the Royal Mile, Ferguson said the trip was the highlight of her career.

“To get a compliment from people who see shows all the time really was awesome,” she said.

The announcement of her retirement has been especially upsetting to this year’s juniors, but because Ferguson gives her students so much autonomy and is such an effective leader and educator, it’s a good bet they are well equipped not only to transition to a new instructor next, but to carry forward the spirit of the program.

“The lessons that count are going to stay,” senior Isasc Boyd said.

Considering her career started with her son’s first play, it has now come full circle as she changes the focus of her life back to her family.

“I’m so pleased that she will have a chance to rest and focus on many of her interests,” Pugsley said. “Her grandchild is probably going to be her biggest new discovery and all of that energy that hundreds of students got, she now has to give to one little wee Hamish. He’s a lucky one.”

Written by: Seth Gordon