New teacher lightens up drama department

She has performed on VH-1, MTV and Comedy Central. She worked as a stand-up comedian for 15 years and continues to entertain at fundraisers and to fight substance abuse. She has taught drama since the 1980s. To cap it off, she starred in a documentary entitled “The Last Laugh” to bring awareness to AIDS in 1991.

Needless to say, new drama and English teacher Karin Babbitt has quite a resume.
Throughout her childhood, Babbitt dreamed of doing stand-up comedy and eventually made that dream a reality.

“People always say, ‘Isn’t that the hardest thing in the world?’ Well, I think [comedy is] ridiculously easy,” Babbitt said. “You get up and act stupid for 45 minutes and they pay you, and you don’t have to go to a real job for eight hours.”

Babbitt later found work as a comic in her hometown of Los Angeles. In 1988, she moved to the Santa Cruz area, where she started acting locally, teaching and performing in drug recovery venues. In California, she taught at San Lorenzo Valley High and San Jose State before she teaching drama at Scotts Valley High for 10 years.

Starting this year, Babbitt will lead the drama department in addition to teaching one English 9 class. She expects her first year to be a good one.

“My first impression [of the school] was that I had landed in paradise,” Babbitt said. “[The staff] continually prove to be brilliant and generous, and the community support is exemplary.”
Babbitt said she was inspired to teach because of her desire to help kids through high school—often a rocky time in their lives. She will use her extensive experience in comedy to complement her teaching.

“I wanted to be that person to teenagers who didn’t discourage them,” Babbitt said. “From the time I was a little kid I dreamed of having a drama class where kids—no matter who they are and whatever people felt about them—could get up and try on all these different roles and blow people’s minds.”

Babbitt has high aspirations for the drama program. She plans to give the Drama 1 students “a little taste of everything,” including pantomime, storytelling, play writing, theater tech and costume design. In the higher levels of the course, however, Babbitt aims to focus on more advanced topics such as drama theory. In addition, she will give Drama 4 Honors students the opportunity to study various production jobs, such as direction and design.

English teacher Kerry Mohnike, who taught the drama classes last year, recognized the need for a teacher with formal training in drama. Additionally, Mohnike noted that she did not have the time to direct the school productions due to teaching and family commitments. Last year, the school had to hire outside directors for “Our Town” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Babbitt, on the other hand, will direct this year’s productions.

“We liked the experience that she had. She [also] had really good references,” Mohnike said. “The students that she worked with at her former school said very nice things and praised her highly.”

After more than 30 years of working at various schools and organizations, Babbitt feels excited to start anew at Saratoga High.

“I feel privileged to be working here,” she said. “I am very very grateful and I hope I please [everyone].”