Sterling schools’ theater director recognized for years of service in performing arts

STERLING – Sterling Public Schools’ theater director has been nominated for a state honor.

Timothy Schlegel recently was nominated by the state of Illinois for a National Federation of State High School Associations Outstanding Theater Educator Award for his work in the performing arts. Schlegel has been the director of theater for Sterling Public Schools for the past 26 years.

“I’ve been here as long as the [Centennial] auditorium,” Schlegel said. “It was built in 1998, and I was hired to open it. I’ve been here ever since.”

A Morrison native, Schlegel said he has been involved in theater and music since high school.

“Morrison High School had a strong theater and music program,” Schlegel said. “I was always very involved, and that continued as I went on to college at Augustana. It was a lot of fun.”

After college, Schlegel spent almost seven years running a theater in Alaska.

“I was working for Augustana as a tech director for the concert hall when the school started going through a bunch of budget cuts, and I got let go,” Schlegel said. “My wife’s aunt and uncle live in Seattle, and they saw this job advertisement. So, I sent my resume and interviewed over the phone, and the next thing I know, we’re moving up there.”

Schlegel’s return to the Sauk Valley area happened much the same way.

“My best friend Mike McCoy, who used to be the band director at Sterling, called me and said, ‘We’re building this theater in Sterling,’” Schlegel said. “So, I came home for the summer when they were just getting ready to build, and he took me to a meeting, where they were looking at the blueprints with Pete Dillon and some other people. I stayed in touch and interviewed for the job, and they hired me. I’ve been here ever since.”

Schlegel also is the board president for Woodlawn Arts Academy in Sterling.

“I can’t remember exactly when it was, but at one point, Sterling Public Schools went through a huge budget cut and laid off a ton of people,” Schlegel said. “We wanted to make sure that kids were still being given opportunities for theater. So, I worked hard with Woodlawn to try to offer things that we couldn’t do anymore.”

At that time, Schlegel said Dixon’s Sauk Valley Community College was still offering theater, and Woodlawn and SPS were struggling to find help building sets for their productions.

“No one could afford full-time help,” Schlegel said. “So, I came up with the idea to create a theater alliance between the three of us. We combined our resources and created two new jobs. Now, we have a person who does all the lighting and sound for all three entities. Since I’m getting ready to retire in a couple of years, I’ve flipped from being the director to the scenic designer/overseer of the area.”

Schlegel said he is grateful to receive the NFHS award, but the real honor is getting to help grow Sterling’s theater programs and working with the children.

“Our theater department has extra things that a lot of other schools don’t, like moving lights and some of the different technology, because the Sterling Schools Foundation has supported us so well,” Schlegel said. “So, we can offer kids an opportunity to do something that they normally can’t do a lot of. Getting to see how a production ends and what the students have accomplished, that’s my biggest reward.”