Ms. Kaitlyn Thornton

Ms. Thornton has been the Theatre Arts teacher at CMS since the 2020-2021 school year, and she loves the opportunity to instill in her students a love for performance while simultaneously providing them with a supportive and safe environment in which to learn and grow. In addition to Theatre Arts, Ms. Thornton also co-teaches the 8th-grade Musical Theatre class with Mrs. Karstensen, the CMS Chorus Teacher. Ms. Thornton was named as Cartersville Middle School's "Teacher of the Year" for the 2023 school year. 

Alongside Mrs. Karstensen, Ms. Thornton also directs the CMS musical productions. The fall musicals are presented by the 8th-grade musical theatre students, and the spring productions are open to all students, sixth through eighth-grade. Ms. Thornton encourages any students who are interested in auditioning to be onstage or applying to work backstage to listen for any announcements regarding the spring show. Students may also come by the theatre classroom (room 404) for information. Previous productions include: Cinderella, Matilda Jr., Elf Jr., The Little Mermaid Jr., Once Upon a Mattress Youth Edition, and Footloose Youth Edition. The 2024-2025 season will be announced at Open House. 

Ms. Thornton is a Cobb County native from Marietta, Georgia. She attended McEachern High School, and she credits her high school theatre teacher, Steve Jones, with setting her on her path to education. Ms. Thornton graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University. She spent a semester studying renaissance and medieval literature at Oxford University, and she has participated in theatre workshops at Walt Disney World, The Globe Theatre, and The Royal Shakespeare Company.

Outside of school, Ms. Thornton has been fortunate enough to direct several youth productions at the Grand Theatre in Cartersville. When she is not directing, Ms. Thornton continues to act in community theaters throughout the Metro-Atlanta area. In February of 2024, Ms. Thornton was fortunate enough to step into the role of Anastasia in the Grand Theatre's production of the hit Broadway musical.

Ms. Thornton is an avid reader, an Anglophile, a lover of Shakespeare, Lord of the Rings, Agatha Christie, The Atlanta Braves, and The University of Tennessee Volunteers. She is committed to cultivating authentic, genuine relationships with all of her students, both on and off "the boards."

Go Canes!

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