HOUSTON — An Aldine ISD theater teacher got to walk the red carpet and take the stage at Radio City Music Hall Sunday night during the Tony Awards.
Roshunda Jones-Koomba is the theater director at G.W. Carver Magnet High School and now the winner of the 2022 Excellence in Theater Education Award.
Jones-Koomba won the award during the 75th Annual Tony Awards in New York City. She was selected by a panel of theater experts that received more than 5,000 entries nationwide.
The annual education award bestowed by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University recognizes U.S. educators from kindergarten to 12th grade who have “demonstrated monumental impact on the lives of students and who embodies the highest standards of the profession.”
“In theater we accept all, so you’re not afraid to be yourself. And that gives you confidence to do anything you want, enables you to work with different people, and to be a better all-around person,” Jones-Koumba said in a statement. “Theatre is Life. I’m very grateful to The Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University for this honor.”
The award includes a $10,000 prize and a pair of tickets to the Tony ceremony and gala. A panel of judges comprised of the American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League, Carnegie Mellon and other leaders from the theater industry selects the winner, based on candidates submitted by the public.
Jones-Koumba has already received two prestigious awards for 2021 — the Stephen Schwartz Musical Theatre Teacher of the Year Award and the
“I’m an advocate for arts education everywhere. It doesn’t matter how much funding or support you have; magic can be created with determination and creativity,” she said when she won the Schwartz award. "Musical theatre has a unique way of bringing people together from different backgrounds and experiences to create theater magic.”
In 2020, Jones-Koumba was inducted into the Texas Thespians Hall of Fame and received the inaugural Arts Educator of the Year from the TUTS Leading Ladies organization. She was also TxETA’s 2017 Educator of the Year and Aldine ISD Carver High School’s teacher of the year in 2009 and 2014.
Jones-Koumba is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University with a bachelor's degree in theatre and a master's of education in administration. The city of Wharton, Texas, has declared June 28 as a day to honor her.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.