Executive Staff
Allison Rogers - GHS CAPA Chair
Allison Long is a 1994 graduate of Germantown High School. After 10 years of teaching Communication Arts and Introduction to Film and Video at Germantown High School, Mrs. Long now serves and Executive Director of GHS-TV and Chairman of the Department of the Creative and Performing Arts. Mrs. Long attended Baylor University where she received a B.B.A. in Broadcasting. Before returning to Germantown, she worked with Susquehanna Broadcasting, CBS Promotions Group and ABC Radio in Dallas. She is the former state director for the Tennessee chapter of the Educational Theatre Association, currently serves on the Leadership Germantown board of directors and is involved with various organizations in the surrounding area.
Ashleigh Williams - Artistic Director
Proving that you can, indeed, go home again, Ashleigh Sigfried Williams has returned to her home among the Germantown High School Fine Arts faculty and Poplar Pike Playhouse staff. As the artistic director for the Poplar Pike Playhouse, she directs the Playhouse's spring musicals. In the classroom, she serves as an instructor for two courses: film and video, and communication arts. This is Ms. Williams' second stint on the GHS Fine Arts Faculty, having first taught at GHS from 2001 to 2005. A 1994 graduate of GHS, Ms. Williams performed on the PPP stage in such shows as Oklahoma!, Chess, Once on this Island and Can’t Stop Dancin’ and served as the anchor of GHS-TV's Wake Up, Germantown!. Before returning home to GHS prior to the 2013-14 school year, Ms. Williams served as the theatre director at Briarcrest Christian High School from 2005 to 2013. Over the course of eight years, she built the Briarcrest theatre department from the ground up, pushing the envelope with ambitious productions that included Beauty and the Beast, Les Misérables, Anything Goes and Tarzan: The Musical. Those four productions garnered 34 nominations during the first four years of The Orpheum Theatre's High School Musical Theatre Awards program and earned 13 awards--including a Best Director award for Ms. Williams' work on Les Misérables. Ms. Williams' directing credits also include: Oklahoma!; Hello, Dolly!; Into the Woods; She Loves Me; The Fantastiks; Shout! The Mod Musical; and Forever Plaid. Some of Williams' favorite performing credits at the professional and collegiate level include: Oklahoma!; Grease; She Loves Me: Chicago; The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Guys and Dolls. A longtime dance and vocal student of Elizabeth Anne Brown's Performing Arts of Germantown, Williams holds a Bachelor of Arts in musical theatre from the University of Tulsa and a Master of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Catie Broadwater - Theatre Arts Teacher
Catie Broadwater is a Germantown High School alumni. She recently served as the stage manager for Tennessee Shakespeare Company. Her TSC credits include The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, It's a Wonderful Life: A Talk Radio Play, Macbeth, Southern Yuletide, the school's tour of Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest and The Glass Menagerie. Catie comes from Nashville, where she worked as a stage manager. She was a stage management assistant for the pre-Broadway production of The Nutty Professor directed by Jerry Lewis. A few of her theatre credits include Studio Tenn's The Glass Menagerie; Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's Sherlock Holmes and It's a Wonderful Wife; 3Ps Production’s John & Jen and Long Way Down, Parallel Lives, Oklahoma, Ramona Quimby, Baby, Spirit: The Authentic Story of the Bell Witch of Tennessee; and Nashville Shakespeare Festival's The Tempest. She is a graduate of Middle Teneessee State University, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Theatre.
Teresa Phipps - Costume Seamstress
Teresa Blackburn Phipps joined the Fine Arts Faculty at Germantown High School in 2009 and has been actively involved in the arts since childhood. Prior to teaching art, Ms. Phipps was involved in classical ballet, performing and teaching, merging the methods of Vagonova and Royal Academy of Dance Instruction. Ms. Phipps received her BFA in Fine Art from the Memphis College of Art and completed her Master's in Art Education in 2011. Ms. Phipps has been actively involved in with the Poplar Pike Playhouse Productions and has worked with the costume design team on numerous plays and musicals. She is one of the sponsors of GHS Art Spectrum Club.
Jeannine La Bate - Scenic Artist
Jeannine La Bate is a graduate from Palm Beach Atlantic University, and considers it a privilege to join the Germantown High School family as a teacher. While living in Nashville, she was the Resident Costume Designer for the Tennessee Women’s Theatre Project. She is currently working to complete her Masters in Art in Teaching at Memphis College of Art.
Ann Argodale - Technical Director
Ann Argodale joined the Germantown High School faculty in 2013 and has served as technical director for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Hairspray and Fools. Ms. Argodale received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Tulsa, a Master of Music from Northwestern University and completed her mathematics studies at Thomas Nelson Community College. She completed her teacher education at the University of Memphis. She was a musician in the US Navy, worked for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and has experience as a residential and commercial carpenter. Ms. Argodale is a past director of orchestral studies at Christopher Newport University. Prior to joining GHS, she taught at Manassas High School and Havenview Middle School.
Matt Sloan - Sound and Video Coordinator
Matt Sloan returns to his alma mater after earning his Radio, Television and Digital Media degree from Southern Illinois University in just three years. While in college, Mr. Sloan won two Emmys for his work on alt.news 26:46. He also worked as a reporter and on the technical crew for the SIU nightly newscast. He is the only student in the region and from GHS-TV to win the Jim McKay Memorial Scholarship, a national honor given by the Emmy organization each year. During his time as a student, Mr. Sloan was general manager of GHS-TV. He directed major productions like Election Night 2010 and Live Coverage of the 2010 Germantown Festival, served as a videographer and reporter for the station and even appeared onstage in a number of Poplar Pike Playhouse productions.
Kirie Walz - Managing Director
Kirie Walz is a 2004 graduate of Germantown High School. She returns to the PPP after earning a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Memphis. Mrs. Walz has worked at several theatres in the Memphis area including Theatre Memphis and Playhouse On the Square. She has received Ostrander awards for Leading Actress in a Musical in the U of M's production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and in Theatre Memphis' production of Annie Get Your Gun. Other favorite productions include Elegies: A Song Cycle, Big River, Assassins, Noises Off, Parade and Aida. Mrs. Walz currently teaches theatre and acting.
Steve Danielson - Music Director
Steve Danielson joined GHS as the choral director in 2005. Having graduated from Houston High School and then completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Brigham Young University, Mr. Danielson returned to Memphis to pursue a master's degree in Conducting at the University of Memphis. While at the U of M, Mr. Danielson was the assistant conductor for the University Singers and Chamber Choir. He also had opportunities to guest conduct rehearsals of the Memphis Symphony Chorus and the Memphis Vocal Arts Ensemble. Mr. Danielson has soloed with both the Vocal Arts Ensemble and the Symphony Chorus. In addition to the auditioned choruses, he also sponsors three clubs: Tri-M Music Honor Society; Tempo Club, a classical music exposure club; and A Ca-Fellas, a male a cappella group. His personal theater credits include roles in Man of La Mancha, The Ugly Duckling, Calvary, Gianni Schicchi and Carmen. He is an active member of the National Association for Music Education and is currently secretary for the West Tennessee Vocal Music Associations. Mr. Danielson and his wife, Angi, have seven children.
Lanny Byrd - Conductor
Lanny Byrd is in his 30th year with the Fine Arts Department at Germantown High School where he serves as chairman of the Music Department. A Memphis native, he graduated from Overton High School and received his Bachelor of Science in Education at the University of Memphis. Mr. Byrd has performed with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and also with various well-known recording artists such as Barry Manilow and jazz trumpet great, Marvin Stamm. Before coming to Germantown, he developed an award-winning band program at Sky View Academy. Mr. Byrd is in demand as an adjudicator and clinician throughout the Mid-South. He is an active member in Music Educators National Conference, Tennessee Music Educators Association and the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association. Mr. Byrd directs the Concert, Jazz, and Marching bands at Germantown High School, all of which consistently receive superior ratings at contests and festivals.
Kellie McDonald - Scenic Designer
Kellie McDonald is a graduate of Germantown High School where she was actively involved in the visual arts department the PPP costume department. Ms. McDonald attended the University of Mississippi where she received a B.F.A. in Imaging Arts. In 2009, she completed her thesis of alternative photography and documentary filmmaking about racial reconciliation on campus. Before returning to Germantown, she worked on productions for ABC and Cartoon Network's Ben10: Alien Force. Ms. McDonald is currently working to complete her Masters of Art Education.
Joe Mitchell - Scenic Artist
Joe Mitchell is a recent graduate of the University of Memphis. Mr. Mitchell is excited about being a new addition to the Visual Arts team and is a first year teacher. He is married with three uniquely talented sons. Mr. Mitchell is a proud abstract artist who is grateful for the opportunity to teach the students of Germantown High School.
Bobby Ramsay - Lighting Director
Bobby Ramsay is a 2004 graduate of Germantown High School. As a senior in the GHS Fine Arts Department, Mr. Ramsay served as general manager of GHS-TV and as lighting director of Wake Up, Germantown!, won a National Student Television Award of Excellence from the organization that presents television’s coveted Emmy awards. In 2008, Mr. Ramsay graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media Production. Mr. Ramsay served as an intern for News Channel 5 and has worked freelance in the Nashville area. Some of his freelance projects include the 2008 Nashville Regional Emmy awards and Soundcheck: Season 2, which highlights musical groups from the Nashville and Murfreesboro area.
Catherine Cohen - Business Office Manager
Catherine Cohen joined the Fine Arts Department staff in 2010. She earned a B.B.A. in Marketing from Mississippi State University and worked for 10 years in outdoor advertising. Mrs. Cohen is a 2009 Leadership Germantown graduate. She also serves on the Germantown High School Parent Teacher Student Association Board as treasurer.