Think, Create, Collaborate!!! As a teaching artist and certified teacher, I join with schools and community organizations to create exciting learning experiences and explore issues of social relevance through drama–based instructional strategies. I partner with teachers to develop residencies tailored to meet their specific needs. I specialize in team building, telling stories, working with youth collaboratively to create original dramatic material, using drama-based instructional strategies to enhance curriculum across academic disciplines, directing productions, and developing leadership skills among groups of all ages. Additionally, I offer professional development workshops including: 1) The Dyslexia Theatre Project - an informative and engaging performance/workshop providing educators with insight into the experiences of students with learning disabilities and introducing them to drama-based instructional strategies for addressing special learning needs. 2) Learning with Meaning: Drama Based Instruction - - Making learning come alive through dramatic play that engages the body and imagination. Available to conduct teacher workshops.

Spencer is a 2016 Regional Arkansas Teacher of the Year as well as the Little Rock School District Teacher of the Year. He specializes in theatre and speech education, team building, dramatic play, and directing actors of all ages. Diagnosed with dyslexia at age 8, Spencer has an inspiring story of perseverance and achievement that underscores much of his teaching artist work. He has a bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts/ Speech Communication Education and an M.F.A. in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities. Spencer has dedicated more than a decade to using theatre as a tool to inspire and educate. Spencer has directed plays for young audiences at the university and high school levels including The Arkansaw Bear, Mother Hicks, Holes, and The Imaginary Invalid. As a graduate student, Spencer wrote, directed, and performed in a documentary theatre piece about the experiences of students with dyslexia. This piece was accepted for entry into the University of Texas at Austin's highly competitive Cohen New Works Festival. He later incorporated a shortened version of the piece into a professional development workshop he facilitated across Texas and Arkansas. Spencer currently holds the position of Drama Specialist at Arkansas's premier performing arts magnet high school where he serves as the Drama Department Chair. In this position, he directs main stage productions and a yearly student-devised performance about Arkansas history that tours to elementary and middle schools. In addition to directing, he teaches year long, in-depth courses in Theatre History, Children's Theatre, and Ensemble Theatre for 10th through 12th grade theatre students. Spencer has also taught Introduction to Improvisation and Introduction to Theatre on the college level.