Jim Patterson, the author of Stage Directing (Allyn & Bacon), spent three decades at the University of South Carolina, where he headed the MFA program in directing and taught its secondary theater-methods course. A Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Patterson has been recognized for his work by the South Carolina Speech Communication Association and the South Carolina Theatre Association, and was awarded the state's Order of the Silver Crescent.
President of the South Carolina Theatre Association Donna McKenna-Crook has taught for two decades at A. C. Flora High School in Columbia, South Carolina, where she is currently chair of the fine arts department. McKenna-Crook is a frequent workshop presenter.
Melissa Swick chairs the fine arts department at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, South Carolina. Swick has also taught theatre education at NYU and Winthrop University, published in Youth Theatre Journal, and presented at AATE and ATHE.