Senior Annette Oliphant was awarded Missouri Thespian Theatre Education Scholarship at the 2020 Missouri State Thespian Conference, held from Jan. 9-11 in Kansas City.

Twenty four Liberty students attended the conference to expand upon their theatrical skills in a variety of workshops. After going through an extensive interview process, she was the sole applicant to receive the $1,000 scholarship for pursuing a career in theatre education. 

“I was not expecting it at all,” Oliphant said. “I went in and I just wanted experience for interviewing as a theatre teacher because those are the types of interviews I’ll have with administration someday when I apply for those positions.”

However, Oliphant’s road to achievement stretches far beyond some questions and an essay. 

Oliphant fell in love with theatre as a toddler. Her mom remembers her performing every word and every song from classics like Snow White. 

“I remember the first movie musical I ever watched was Annie. I would direct myself in Annie and make my parents watch. I made my aunt put out a blanket on the floor [to be] my stage,” Oliphant said. “That’s when I started my love for theatre.”

Slowly but surely, she began acting at plays in her elementary school and got involved in community theatre. Though small, her living room performances created a spark – the conception that someday, what was once put on for her parents could be performed for hundreds of people.

When she wasn’t acting, singing or dancing, Oliphant was helping out in the classroom. Both of her parents work in the education field- her dad is currently a principal at Francis Howell Central and her mom, Ms. Tarrant-Oliphant (T-O), is a well-loved English teacher at Liberty – allowing her to see the impact teaching can have, both on students and professionals. 

“One thing that definitely inspired me was my parents,” Oliphant said. “Getting to see my mom’s style and just how she’s shaped the lives of students has really helped me get into teaching.”

Oliphant applied what her parents taught to her life without realizing it, empathy guiding every choice she made. When Oliphant was in first grade, Ms. T-O received a call that she was comforting kids in trouble when they needed to be in trouble. It was this kind of nurturing spirit that made Ms. T-O realize that her daughter might follow in her footsteps. 

“She was a born teacher,” T-O said.

As Oliphant grew up, her passion for both performance and helping others only grew. It wasn’t until she got to high school that she realized those two paths could converge. 

In the summer before her sophomore year, Oliphant had the opportunity to assistant direct a community theatre show called “Shake it Up with Shakespeare”, the cast ranging from 5 to 10 years old. Each number she choreographed brought forth small epiphanies- she could do this happily for the rest of her life.