Tears begin to fill Laurie Godfrey’s eyes as she sits in the Brown County High School auditorium.
“Everything is nuts because I wasn’t ready. My head is spinning. It’s hard to say goodbye when you’re not ready,” she said.
She had not planned to retire from leading the theater department, a job she’d held for 14 years, at the end of this school year. But like so much of the past year, COVID-19 had other plans for her.
Her 90-year-old mother and her sister both tested positive for the virus after catching it in church. They both have lingering side effects, and her mother is moving to Wisconsin to be closer to a Mayo Clinic there. And after she retires, Godfrey — lovingly called “Doc” by her students — will soon join her to be by her side.
“When the school corporation made an offer that made it possible for me to move out and afford to go, the two of them combined aligned to make that decision,” Godfrey said.
In February, the school board approved implementing more cost-cutting strategies in light of declining enrollment, including the closing of Brown County Intermediate School. To keep the number of certified staff in line with the closure, and to avoid firing teachers, financial retirement incentives were offered to teachers and non-certified staff. Godfrey is one of the initial six teachers who took that incentive.
“I realized it allowed me to leave here ready to go to a new place in much better shape,” she said.
Godfrey will move to the Eau Claire area of Wisconsin where she will be near other family, too. She was going to be one of the last ones joining her family in Wisconsin, and now she will be the first.
“It lets me do a whole lot more. It’s been a blessing and a real struggle at the same time,” she said.
Leaving a department, a school and a county she has called home for over a decade is not an easy goodbye.
Godfrey found Brown County High School on purpose after doing research on the school and area. She had been working as a high school theater teacher in Virginia Beach at Tallwood High School while her youngest son was finishing college.
Godfrey had left the world of acting, directing and producing to teach high school theater so that she could be on the same schedule of her two sons while they were in school.
“All of my life I have been involved in theater. I love teaching, but when I taught college level, I had to break habits. When you teach high school level, you have to train habits. It’s so much easier,” she said.
She also had three different theater companies. Her last company, Phoenix, had a touring company and a stationary theater. Godfrey produced and directed. She would also act occasionally.
“Rising out of the ashes. I was rising out of the ashes when I started that company,” she said of Phoenix.
When her son graduated college, Godfrey began applying for teaching jobs again and a friend in Indiana suggested looking here.
That’s when Godfrey found a post from BCHS Principal Matt Stark looking for a theater teacher.
Weeks went by without a word on if the job had been filled, and Godfrey would call the school every week to check to see if the job was still open.
The theater department had seen a rotation of five different teachers before Godfrey took over.
“Finally I did get a phone call and I came out here for an interview. I walked in and there were (theater) banners. I said, ‘This is a very different school,’ and I met Matt Stark. He took me on his grand tour of the place,” she said.
She was offered the job and accepted 14 years ago. Godfrey brought with her many items from her theater company including costumes and props.
“It was a perfect fit. I just had a wonderful relationship with the school board. I had a wonderful relationship with Matt Stark,” she said.
“It’s been challenging, but it’s never been boring.”
Keeping memories
Godfrey has made an impact on the community.
In 2017, she received the Lifetime Achievement award from the Brown County Playhouse for her work — which includes bringing home state thespian conference championships in 2012 and 2013 and placing in the top five shows six times at the state level.
Earlier this year, she was inducted into the Indiana Thespians Hall of Fame.
Godfrey earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida Southern College in speech, drama and history. She spent years acting in theater, television and films. She became a mother to two sons.
She continued to act, teach at the university level and earn master’s and doctoral degrees in communication from Regent University in Virginia. She was named an outstanding graduate in the Institute of Performing Arts in 1992.
Now with retirement nearing, Godfrey said she plans to get back into theater somehow, whether it be professionally or at the community level.
“I will go back into acting. I will get an agent again. I may build for Habitat Humanity and paint for Habitat Humanity. I can help in those areas. Just cool out and have some fun,” she said.
As she sits in the auditorium, a student comes up to her and asks her a question. When she tells him to let the other students know something she forgot to tell them, he says, “OK,” and without another question, heads over to share her message.
Theater students through the years have grown under Godfrey, and the respect they have for her is apparent each year.
“I think we trust each other more than anything. They know I’ll encourage them and I’ll also tell them when things aren’t working well, but we trust each other. Honesty,” she said.
One Saturday after a rehearsal for her last production, “Crimes of the Heart,” she had a Zoom call with three of her former stage managers who are studying theater in Evansville on scholarships. They had all been talking for a minute when one of them started to say that their Zoom call was being interrupted.
“All these faces started coming up. She had set it up where I had actors from “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Oliver,” “Wait Until Dark,” “Stalag 17,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and techies. It was the best. It was so much fun,” Godfrey said with a big smile.
The love and respect is mutual for her. “I got to just talk for two hours with this whole group. Some would have to leave and others would come in late. I had a blast. It was just awesome,” she said.
The joy of watching her students grow in confidence, in strengths and in their abilities over time, even after high school, is a memory Godfrey will take with her.
“Being able to say, ‘I knew when this was what you were like, and look at you now and look what you’re accomplishing now in real life afterwards’ — it’s not my job to create a whole bunch of little actors and techies that go on and do that, though I can certainly help them when they want to go forward,” she said.
“But the life skills they learn from working together and being challenged and having to rise up to a level I knew they could reach, but they didn’t know they could reach, that has been the best part of what I do. That is the best part.”
Bringing home back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2013 with the productions of “Mister Roberts” and “Wait Until Dark” is another accomplishment Godfrey is proud of.
One of her first shows here, “Fiddler on the Roof,” is also a bright spot.
Every time the high school theater department has competed at state, they have finished in the top five.
“When we did compete, we were known. I think the strength and the pride it gave to the students knowing we were way up there every time we showed up was very powerful too,” she said.
Mementos from past shows, pictures, drawings and other special gifts from students line the shelves of Godfrey’s home. Those memories will also go with her, including a size 12 red sequined slipper inspired by Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” which a student made for her in the high school’s art room.
“I told my students my house has very strange things on shelves everywhere and no one else would ever understand what in the world some of those things are, but I know what they are.”
“It is very helpful to be reminded of the things you love,” she continued.
Brown County Junior High School choir teacher Dan Lyng will take over for Godfrey next school year.
Godfrey’s advice to him: “Do your own thing here. Don’t try to be me. Have fun. I know Dan is going to build a good relationship with the students. He already has relationships with a few of them already. That part isn’t going to be difficult,” Godfrey said.
“Keep their respects. You can’t accomplish much if they don’t respect you.”
Earning that respect means being honest with the students and caring about them while providing a safe place for them.
“Applaud the accomplishments and walk through the difficulties. Let students make mistakes sometimes because that’s how they learn,” Godfrey said.
“If I had kicked out every student who ever did something they shouldn’t have in this department, I wouldn’t have one.”
The last 14 years as the theater teacher in Brown County High School has been an “awesome blessing” for Godfrey.
“I have had so much fun,” she said.
“I have had so much support. Wonderful, wonderful parents helping. It’s been a job I love to come to every morning, so I can’t say better than that.”
