Ms. Strassel is Lawton's theater teacher. She started teaching and making theater with young people in 2002 and has done so continuously since then in New York City, Paris (France), Charlotte (NC), Chicago, and Ann Arbor. She has taught as young as 3 year olds and as old as seniors in high school. She studied acting at the University of Michigan where she earned a Bachelor in Fine Arts in theater performance in 2003. Additionally, she earned a Masters in Elementary Education from DePaul University in 2014. She also completed the TAD (Teaching Artist in Development) Program at Columbia College in Chicago in 2015. She enjoys making theater with young people most because of their sense of freedom and imaginative thinking as they create and their love for stories.

My favorite book currently is Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg because it shows the artistic possibilities when we think we've make a mistake. It's also really fun and interactive.

My favorite subject when I was in elementary school was music because it was the place I was allowed to be my most creative self and introduced me to performing on stage.