Blinn professor receives top honors from Texas Educational Theatre Association

Kevin Patrick named Educator of the Year in Higher Education

April 26, 2024

Kevin Patrick, Theatre Arts Professor at Blinn College-Brenham, has been selected Texas Educational Theatre Association (TxETA) Educator of the Year in Higher Education.

The annual award is based on service as an educator and to TxETA. Finalists submit letters of recommendation and support and are interviewed by the organization’s Awards Committee.

“None of this is possible without great students who come from a variety of backgrounds and experience and accept their production responsibilities with enthusiasm and a desire to learn, to support each other and the production,” Patrick said. “Not every student will continue in their theatre studies or go on to a career in live entertainment, but the opportunities and leadership growth that manifests while they are here is a testament to the learning environment that Brad Nies, Jennifer Patrick, and I foster in our program.”

Nies, who has worked alongside Patrick for almost 20 years, said his fellow professor is highly deserving of the award.

“Kevin Patrick is one of the most talented men I have ever had the pleasure to work with,” Nies said. “As my co-worker, Kevin continues to amaze me with the technical expertise he has brought to our students. Under his tutelage, our students have learned technical theatre for shows such as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , Edipus, The Good Woman of Setzuan, Little Shop of Horrors , Amadeus, God of Carnage, Biloxi Blues, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , The Remarkable Rooming House of Madame Le Monde, Lee Harvey Oswald , The Addams Family, Macbeth, Golden Boy, Vinegar Tom , and Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. These productions were technically spectacular due to Kevin Patrick’s dedication to technical theatre, as well as his students.”

Patrick also oversees Blinn’s annual Performing Arts Series at the Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center on the Brenham Campus. This annual series of four productions have included dramatic works such as the national touring productions of Finding Neverland , Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, and Million Dollar Quartet and musical events such as The Greatest Piano Men, Rave On: The Buddy Holly Experience , and The Doo Wop Project.

“Blinn College students are the carpenters, electricians, dressers, follow spot operators, and light board operators, working closely with industry professionals,” Patrick said.

“As a member of the Brenham community, Kevin has excelled in volunteering for the Brenham Children’s Chorus, as well as the Brenham Broadway Kids,” Nies said. “As part of our faculty showcase, Kevin has starred in such productions as Red, Greater Tuna, The Odd Couple, and The Day Before Christmas. In each production, he served as a shining example of a professional actor.”

Patrick’s first interaction with TxETA was as a junior at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, when he won an award for scene design for Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”

Since joining Blinn, Patrick has participated in every TxETA annual conference and chaired its Higher Education section for two virtual conferences during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also chaired its Higher Education during the development and implementation of the TxETA Higher Education Research Conference and presented workshops.

At the state level, Patrick served as co-chair of the Drama Field of Study Advisory Committee and the Drama Learning Outcomes Project with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which introduced Script Analysis and Theatre Design courses to the Texas Academic Course Guide Manual.

Travis Springfield, president of the TxETA Board of Directors, said, “Kevin Patrick is a deserving recipient of our Higher Education Educator of the Year award for his impact on our Texas educational theatre community and his work at Blinn. We congratulate him on this special recognition.”

Blinn’s Theatre Arts Program cultivates a quality educational foundation of study, application, and experience through a wide range of performance, technical, and production studies. Its Associate of Arts degree plan integrates artistic, technical, and academic disciplines of theatre from the classroom to the stage. Students have an opportunity to audition for performances related to drama and theatre and are prepared to transfer to four-year colleges and universities.