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Board of Trustees

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Janet Reed, President
Sharon Robinson, Vice President
Chip Weiner, Treasurer
Jeremy Blackwood
Deborah Clements
Stephanie Davison
Stephanie Gardner
Aprill Mangrum Raines
Susan Ronnenberg
Jenny Sanchez
Janie Umsted
Natalie Weaver
George Williams

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Chip Weiner, Treasurer

Dr. Weiner is a native of Chicago, Illinois. Upon graduation from high school, he attended the University of Oklahoma, where he attained a Bachelor's, a Master's, and a Doctorate. Dr. Weiner spent 41 years in education, 16 years in public school, and 25 years at Southeastern. He retired from teaching in 2015.

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Deborah Clements

Deborah Clements retired as Director and Coordinator of Choral Music for Durant Public Schools with 37 years of music education experience in 2019 and now owns and teaches private voice/piano lessons at the Clements School of Music. Clements is the director of The Chorvettes’ Stage-works Company and an adjunct voice instructor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. She was chosen as Durant ISD’s 1994 Teacher of the Year and selected one of 12 state finalists for Oklahoma Teacher of the Year in 1995. Ms. Clements helped reinstate musicals at Durant High School co-directing 10 musicals. She has also been the Musical Director of OSF's Children’s Theatre and Young Actor's Workshop for several seasons. Being the musical director of the OSF Main-Stage production, Newsies, was a bucket list show and a career highlight. Deborah has also been on stage with OSF’s in Shrek The Musical, and The Drowsy Chaperone. Deborah enjoys spending time with her family, her husband, Michael Clements, and sons, Kyle Clements and Aaron Rains, and daughter-in-law Heather Rains.

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Stephanie Gardner

As a Durant native and alumni of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Stephanie holds a
bachelor’s degree in Marketing and a Master of Business Administration. Stephanie is the owner of
Stephanie & Co, a freelance marketing agency that assists brands create and marketing experiences
that matter. She is passionate about strengthening brands and enhancing the quality of life for
communities they impact. Often, she assists clients with social media strategy, digital marketing,
public relations, and brand activations. 
 
Stephanie enjoys spending free time with her husband, Michael, and their cat, Miss Kitty, and their
two dogs, Niko and Nova. Her interests include interior design, performing arts, traveling, and
crafts.

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Aprill Mangrum Raines

Aprill Mangrum Raines is the Director of Vocal Music at Durant High School in Durant, OK, where she conducts three choirs, teaches music theory and history, and directs the choir musical. She has been in this position since the fall of 2019. Prior to her time at DHS, she served Durant Public Schools at the middle school for 15 years. Her choirs have received Superior ratings on the district and national levels and have been praised for their musicianship and tone quality. Her Durant Middle School treble choir performed as an honor choir at the 2013 OkMEA Convention. At the 2019 OkMEA convention, she received the Exemplary Teacher Award for Middle School. Her students are consistently selected to regional, state, and national honor choirs. Mrs Raines is also an experienced adjudicator and a respected clinician. Mrs. Raines received a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance in 2000 from Oklahoma State University, where she studied with Mrs. Julie McCoy and sang in the OSU Concert Chorale and OSU Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Jerry McCoy and Dr. Bob Ward. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Vocal Pedagogy in 2005 from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX. While at TWU she studied voice and pedagogy with Prof. Joan Wall and was selected to sing on the TWU Women’s Symposium Concert. She is a founding member of the Taylor Festival Choir and Taylor Music Group, a professional 28 voice chamber choir under the direction of Dr. Rob Taylor based in Charleston, SC. She is a featured soprano soloist on TFC’s first CD, This is Thy Hour, O Soul, and on a tour to Ireland which can be seen in the documentary, From the Lowcountry to the Old Country. Mrs. Raines is also an active church musician, leading the choir and playing the piano at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Durant. She holds professional memberships in Oklahoma Music Adjudicators Association, American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, National Educators Association, as well as their respective state and local chapters, and is the current President-elect of the Oklahoma American Choral Directors Association. She is a board member for the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival and a member of the Mary Quisenberry chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Raines has been very involved with the music and theatre departments at Southeastern Oklahoma State University as an adjunct instructor, musical director, performer, and accompanist. Recent performance credits include soprano soloist with the Concert Chorale under the direction of Dr. Stacy Weger, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus and The Witch in Hansel and Gretel with Dr. Jeremy Blackwood’s Southeastern Opera program. Mrs. Raines is married to Will Raines, the Director of Technology for Gabbart Communications, and they have three children; Braden, 20, Lydia, 17, and Sophie 12.

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Dr. Susan Cosby Ronnenberg

Dr. Susan Cosby Ronnenberg serves as the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs—Undergraduate Studies at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. She holds a Ph.D. in 16th and 17th Century British Literature from the University of Oklahoma and has taught Shakespeare literary courses for 18 years. She is the author of Deadwood and Shakespeare: The Henriad in the Old West (McFarland 2018). Her love of Shakespeare came from her eldest sister, who persuaded her at 13 to read Hamlet aloud together for fun.

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Natalie Weaver

Natalie Weaver- A.A. in Music, B.A. in Musical Theater, M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, emphasis in Theatre Pedagogy. Natalie has been a proud AEA (Actor’s Equity Association-professional actor’s union) member since 2006. Early in her theater career, she was cast as “Pink Lady” Marty, on the National Tour of "Grease!" with Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker, and later received a New York Innovative Theater nomination for her work in the NYC production of "The Five Burroughs Plays" Regionally, Natalie has performed with New Theater, American Heartland Theater, and Unicorn Theater (Kansas City); Casa Manana (Fort Worth), Dallas Children's Theater (Dallas), Beef and Boards Dinner Theater (Indianapolis) and the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival (Durant), just to name a few. When not on stage, Ms. Weaver has been a theater educator and/or director for Starlight Theater, the Coterie Theater, Casa Manana, Dallas Children's Theater, the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival, Johnson County Community College, Christian Youth Theater Kansas City, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Lake Country Christian School, Dallas Academy of Music and Performing Arts, and Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts. Natalie currently serves as the Admissions & Recruitment Coordinator for Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

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George Williams

George moved from Indiana to Durant, Oklahoma in 2014 with his wife Amber and his son Ayden. In Indiana, George was classically trained and worked as a chef for 16 years before moving to Oklahoma. George’s wife Amber grew up in the Texoma area and her father and mother both currently live in Durant. One of the main reasons that they made the move was the desire to transition to a more family-focused life while also giving their son Ayden experiences that their hectic schedules were not going to
allow for.

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Upon arriving in Durant George took a position with Durant Public Schools as Food Services Safety and Marketing Coordinator and did that job for a little over a year as he got to know the administrative staff and educators within the Durant school district. George then had the opportunity to interview for and accept a technology support staff position that he is still enjoying today, supporting the technology needs of the students and staff at Durant High School.

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George’s son Ayden found out about The Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival the 2nd full summer they lived in Durant and at 7 years old, Ayden auditioned for a part in OSF’s Children’s Theater production of The Lion King. Ayden quickly fell in love with the amazing people and inclusive environment that OSF is so well known for but he also found a passion for musical theater that he otherwise never would have known existed. Ayden is now 13 and has gone on to have principal and supporting roles in a dozen different productions between children’s, teen, and professional theater. Ayden has also spent 5 years taking classes at The Academy for the Performing Arts.

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After 5 years of being a theater parent and a supporter of OSF, George accepted a role on OSF’s Board and looks forward to helping to be a part of “Keeping The Dream Alive” in any way that he can.

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