STAFF

Noelle Poulsen

Drama

I was born and raised in NYC by dancer parents and moved out to Utah to pursue a degree in Acting at Brigham Young University. While at school, I began teaching at the SCERA Center for the Arts for their Youth Theatre program and realized that although I love performing, I love teaching even more. This year will be my seventh year teaching at Lincoln Academy. I feel so lucky to be able to work with such awesome faculty, staff, students, and parents!

While getting my BFA in Acting, I worked on as many shows and films as I could. Through these experiences (as well as my formal classwork) I learned how acting can help you to be a better human: how to empathize, be vulnerable, and truly listen with all the 5 senses AND the heart. It was those lessons that made me realize that acting training is not just about winning awards or even just about having an income: there are SO many life lessons and skills that come along for the ride. Skills like learning how to act confident and poised even if you’re quaking in your boots. Learning how to relax your walls to truly connect with others, how to listen, and how to be alive in the present moment. Skills that help anyone and everyone do anything and everything that a human does, regardless of whether they step on a stage or not.

I hope my students will leave my classrooms having learned important life lessons like I did. In Drama we learn how to trust ourselves and have confidence. In Stage Craft we learn how to research and problem solve in out of the box ways. It is my hope that the industry specific skills they learn will at the very least lead to an appreciation for the work that goes into the entertainment we consume – and at the very most be a launching point to a career that will bring them joy for the rest of their lives.

Other fun stuff about Mrs. Poulsen: I am an avid gum chewer, lover of dark and white chocolate, and have a tall husband and two beautiful babies.