Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | December 1, 2025
Grade school was not an ideal place for me. I was a weird kid (now a weird adult). I'm not easily embarrassed, and I crave attention, which is a deadly mix for a young person depending on where they go to school. But I was just trying to exist. Reid Middle School and Taconic High School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, felt like places designed to subject me to ridicule. Then, I found theater.
Theater class opened up a whole new world to me. Suddenly, my over-the-top energy didn't feel out of place. My energy was being encouraged, not looked at strangely. The teacher I had saw something in me that no one had before, spent the next few years challenging me, and set me off on a path I never would have expected. I actually reached out to him a few years ago to tell him as much, and he seemed really excited about it.
We chatted on the phone, having not spoken for almost twenty years. I was a new father at the time, and excited to tell him about a short film I had written and directed. He was telling me about his daughter, who had moved to NYC, and how excited he was to talk again, and how we should turn it into a regular thing, an opportunity I jumped at, which felt surprising. I don't talk to anyone from my hometown anymore. This was a huge step! Until it wasn't.
I haven't heard from that teacher since. I tried to set up another call and received no response. He became another in a long line of almost-father-figures I have had in my life. It's a bummer, and something that still sticks in my craw. It could also be why I found a new casting story out of Stranger Things season five so sweet. The woman who plays Miss Harris, a teacher saddled with caring for a bunch of children at one point in the show? She's played by the Duffer Brothers' actual theater teacher.
"Miss Harris is played by Hope Hynes Love. She was our high school drama teacher," Ross Duffer recently revealed on Instagram. "High school was rough for me and my brother. But Hope saw something in us we didn't see in ourselves -- and she helped give us the confidence to not only survive those four years, but to move to LA and chase our dreams." He signed off by saying, "Shoutout to all the teachers out there making a difference. And please... let's prioritize the arts in schools." Hell yeah, Ross.
Getting to pay back someone who had such an impact on your life in such a monumental way is pretty spectacular. It shows just how impactful the arts can be in young lives. The Duffer Brothers held on to the inspiration they received for decades. I know the feeling. While I didn't receive the relationship from my theater teacher that I was hoping for, I can still acknowledge that without them, I wouldn't be where I am now, and I'm very happy with where I am.
But, ya know, maybe if I could've offered them a role on a hit television show, they would have called me back. Another one of life's great mysteries, I guess!
