NFHS Names Roshunda Jones-Koumba a 2023-2024 Performing Arts Educator Award Recipient

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Jones-Koumba directs two Carver High School theater students.

Fifty-six individuals have been selected to receive Outstanding Performing Arts Educator Awards from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), including 22 with Outstanding Music Educator Awards, 21 with Outstanding Speech and Debate Educator Awards, and 13 with Outstanding Theatre Awards.

The 22 music honorees include seven section recipients and 15 state recipients. Eight individuals received section awards in speech and debate, and 13 will be honored with state awards. In theatre, there are seven sections and six state recipients.

Since their inception in 1988, the Outstanding Speech/Debate/Theatre Educator Awards have been a symbol of excellence in performing arts education. A total of 254 individuals have received section awards and 413 have been honored with state awards. The Outstanding Music Educator Awards, introduced a year later, have recognized 213 individuals with section awards and 394 with state awards. The Outstanding Theatre Award, a recent addition, has already honored 13 section recipients and 12 state recipients.

Outstanding Theatre Educator Award

SECTION 6 WINNER — Roshunda Jones-Koumba

Roshunda Jones-Koumba, the recipient of the Outstanding Theatre Educator Award, has made a profound impact on the world of arts education. Her two-decade tenure as a Theatre teacher at Carver High School in Houston, Texas, has been marked by dedication and excellence. Her recent achievements include the 2022 Excellence in Theatre Education Award from the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University.

As the director of Carver’s Panther Players Texas Thespian Troupe #6753, Jones-Koumba has overseen the troupe’s resounding success at both the state and national levels, earning acclaim at the Texas Thespians State Festival, International Thespian Festival, UIL One-Act Play contest, and the Tommy Tune Awards. Notably, the troupe made history by being the first high school in the nation to premiere Summer: The Donna Summer Musical in 2023, securing multiple Tommy Tune Awards, including Best Musical.

Jones-Koumba actively serves on the chapter board for Texas Thespians, the UIL One-Act Play Advisory Committee Chair-Elect, and as the president of the C. Lee Turner’s Black Theatre Educators’ Caucus. Her impact is felt in Texas and nationally, as evident from her position as a Texas Thespians State Thespian Officer Advisor since 2010.

A recipient of the Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre Education in 2022, Jones-Koumba’s accolades further include being named in the Ebony Magazine Power 100 in 2022, receiving the Stephen Schwartz Musical Theatre Teacher of the Year in 2021, and being inducted into the Texas Thespians Hall of Fame in 2020. Her leadership roles and honors, which include serving as the Chair-Elect for the UIL Theatre Advisory Committee, demonstrate her commitment to advancing the field of theatre education. Described by students and colleagues as “sensational,” “nurturing,” “inspirational,” and “amazing,” Jones-Koumba is a model educator and human being worthy of the highest accolades in the realm of theatre education.