{"id":186574,"date":"2025-12-15T23:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/186574\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T23:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:37:09","slug":"chicago-special-education-teachers-puts-on-the-wiz-before-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/186574\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago special education teachers puts on \u2018The Wiz\u2019 before the holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

How do teachers captivate their students? Here, in a feature we call How I Teach, we ask great educators how they approach their jobs.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.<\/p>\n

Ray Graham Training School\u2019s gym buzzed with excitement on Friday as students in costumes rehearsed lines for a production of \u201cThe Wiz,\u201d a musical that takes a soulful spin on \u201cThe Wizard of Oz.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the center of the tumult was Sharon Toi Overton, a special education and theater teacher who works with 12th graders at the school on the city\u2019s South Side. She has put on plays with her students for the past five years. <\/p>\n

At Friday\u2019s rehearsal, she directed her students, going over their lines and making sure their costumes were perfect before their debut on Dec. 19 at King College Prep High School\u2019s auditorium.<\/p>\n

\"AA student portraying Eviline performs in a production of “The Wiz” led by Sharon Toi Overton, the special education teacher at Ray Graham Training Center on Chicago’s South Side on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Samantha Smylie \/ Chalkbeat) <\/p>\n

Overton is not new to acting or music. She is a Chicagoan who grew up in a musical family; her father played saxophone and her mother was a pianist. Overton took up singing and drumming, later becoming a lead singer and drummer in an-all girl rock and roll band in the 1970s. <\/p>\n

Before she officially started her teaching career in 2000, she was an established actor in the city and performed with the Black Ensemble Theater<\/a>, a theater company on the city\u2019s North Side that puts on plays and has educational programs for students. <\/p>\n

Overton became a teaching artist through the theater\u2019s program and started to work with women with disabilities at the Ada S. McKinley Community Services, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago. Over the past 25 years, Overton has combined her love for the arts with working with students with disabilities. <\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

We’re on a need-to-know basis.<\/p>\n

Every weekday morning, Chalkbeat Chicago is bringing thousands of subscribers the news on local public schools and education policy that they need to start their day. Sign up for our free newsletter to join them.<\/p>\n

How and when did you decide to become a teacher?<\/p>\n

I returned to Chicago in 1995 from Los Angeles to support my mom after she suffered a stroke. I auditioned and became a member of the Black Ensemble Theater as an actress. The founder of the theater, Jackie Taylor, who is not only an actress but also a former Chicago Public Schools teacher, and developed various educational programs. She trained interested artists to become teaching artists and placed them in schools around the city.<\/p>\n

During that time, I decided to further my education as a special education teacher. One of my professors at Chicago State, Vinni Hall, recommended me for the special education program at University of Illinois-Chicago where I received my master\u2019s. One of my professors, Abisola Bakare, was teaching at Ray Graham and suggested I perform my student teaching there with her. I completely fell in love with the climate and setting created by Principal Thomas and Vice Principal Buckner. The friendly yet professional and equitable standards set were outstanding. My colleagues are exceptional. In fact, the whole staff across the board was amazing. The students are extremely talented. I knew Ray Graham was the perfect fit for me.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite play to put on and why?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lion King\u201d is actually my favorite show to perform with students. \u201cThe Lion King\u201d was so impactful. It was because it had drama, comedy, and tragedy. It showed every stage of life that you could possibly go through and still come out and triumph. <\/p>\n

Tell us about your own experience with school and how it affects your work today.<\/p>\n

My experience in school was wonderful. I loved school, except for math. I was raised in Hyde Park and I went to Ray Elementary School and Hyde Park Academy High School. I got a lot out of school as far as integration, because Hyde Park was so integrated. We had friends of all nationalities and races. My mom gave dinner parties like the United Nations was there. So school was fun, but there was also turmoil back in that day. There were a lot of sit-ins, walkouts, and strikes. It was a tumultuous time in the \u201860s and \u201870s. The Vietnam war was going on. There was always a cause that people were fighting for.<\/p>\n

Did you participate in singing or acting at school?<\/p>\n

Absolutely. I come from a musically-inclined family. My mom was a consummate pianist and enjoyed playing all genres from Beethoven to Motown. Her favorite was jazz. I can remember singing jazz songs before I started kindergarten. I was in the school plays throughout my early school years.<\/p>\n

\"AA student in a lion costume performs as the Cowardly Lion in a production of “The Wiz” led by Sharon Toi Overton, the special education teacher at Ray Graham Training Center on Chicago’s South Side on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Samantha Smylie \/ Chalkbeat) What\u2019s something happening in the community that affects what goes on inside your classroom?<\/p>\n

Explaining and protecting the students from public scrutiny, restricted resources, time spent navigating politically sensitive topics, and diverting focus from instruction. The ICE situation when we go out on community-based instruction trips. We have students who did not understand what it was about. The safety while traveling on CTA when they hear the news regarding someone punching people on public transportation for no reason. <\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s not all negative. Ray Graham is a life skills training center that has professional and experienced educators who are involved with local businesses, college partnerships, and various programs designed to meet the students\u2019 needs, to ensure a positive result. When businesses or local universities partner with our school, it provides real-world learning opportunities, mentorship programs, career days, and internships. This makes classroom lessons more relevant and engaging for students.<\/p>\n

How do you approach news events in your classroom? Please provide an example.<\/p>\n

I will share it with them and lay down the foundation of what\u2019s going on, because they\u2019re not just hearing it with me. If they\u2019re at home, they\u2019re hearing this news, and they know what\u2019s going on. I ask them, what is the response at home? Because I don\u2019t want to disrespect the parent\u2019s point of view either. We have to maintain a good collaboration with the parents as well and a rapport with them. So, I tried to maintain whatever their parents are talking about, just expound on it, wherever each student is, where their understanding level would be. Then I allow them to turn and talk. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best advice you\u2019ve ever received?<\/p>\n

My mom always said, \u201cYou can get angry, but make sure you don\u2019t stay angry.\u201d That\u2019s a choice. You don\u2019t carry resentment and anger with you. Go and get everything out, and then let it go. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s one thing you\u2019ve read that has made you a better educator?<\/p>\n

I have a philosopher that I really like to read, Jean Piaget. One of his philosophies is about putting the lessons right above the students\u2019 level. Set your expectations high, but don\u2019t make it unreachable. <\/p>\n

How do you take care of yourself when you\u2019re not at work?<\/p>\n

Singing, dancing, massages, traveling, but mainly getting together with my friends that I\u2019ve had since we were 3-and 4-years-old. <\/p>\n

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How do teachers captivate their students? Here, in a feature we call How I Teach, we ask great…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3198,146,107935,107938,85,46,107934,107937,107940,107939,107936],"class_list":{"0":"post-186574","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-eviline","11":"tag-how-i-teach","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-ray-graham-training-center","15":"tag-sharon-toi-overton","16":"tag-south-side","17":"tag-special-education-teacher","18":"tag-the-wiz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}