W. P. SANDFORD AWARD

Sandford served as President in 1930 and 1931. He was a Professor of English and Rhetoric at University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana.  Sandford published numerous scholarly articles in a variety of journals, including the Quarterly Journal of Speech, throughout the 1930s and 1940s.  The Sandford award is in recognition of exceptional service to the Association over an extended period of years and significant contributions to the field of speech and theatre.



2023 W.P. Sandford Award Winner

Lisa Stout, Washington Community High School


Lisa earned her BA in English Education, with a double minor in Speech and Drama, at Western Illinois University in 1995. In 2008, she earned an MA in English from Bradley University. After student teaching at Canton High School, she began her teaching career teaching speech and English at Limestone Community High School in the fall of 1996. There, she also coached the speech team, first as an assistant, later as head coach. After three years, in the fall of 1999, she began teaching Speech and Drama at Pekin Community High School. It was at PCHS that she really began to grow as a speech coach, under the tutelage of Eric Ewan, serving as one of his assistants. At PCHS, she also directed the fall and spring plays and served as theatre manager. One thing Lisa is incredibly proud of is bringing musicals back to PCHS, which happened later in her tenure at the school.

In the fall of 2008, Lisa moved to Washington Community High School, and she has been there ever since. At WCHS, Lisa has taught several English, speech, and drama classes, as well as dual credit composition and dual credit theatre. Lisa also built up the WCHS speech team from a tiny team with just a handful of students to a larger, more competitive team that regularly has IHSA state qualifiers, state finalists, and a State Champion in 2019. At WCHS, Lisa took over the theatre program in 2012 and currently directs the fall musical and spring play. She is also the Drama Club sponsor.

Throughout the years, Lisa has mentored many student teachers as well as assistant speech coaches and student directors. She has also served on countless boards and committees, including the IHSA Speech State Committee as well as the Speech Advisory Committee. In her rare free time, she has served as an adjunct faculty member at Bradley University, teaching English 101 and Communication 103. She has been a member of ICTA for the majority of her career. She has served on the ICTA Board of Directors twice, first as treasurer, and more recently, she was part of the ICTA Executive Board presidential rotation, serving as convention planner in 2018. She is currently an ICTA Past President. 

Lisa lives in Goodfield with her husband, Jim, whom she met backstage at Peoria Players Theatre in the late 1990s. She enjoys cooking, reading, traveling, and trivia. She recently appeared on-stage in Titanic the Musical, directed by her dear friend Eric Ewan, at Corn Stock Theatre in Peoria, her first on-stage appearance since 2012. She loves her chosen career, and considers it a joy and a privilege to be a teacher, a coach, a director, a colleague, a mentor, a friend, and finally, Mama Stout to her kids.

Watch Lisa's acceptance speech here: https://youtu.be/odEnHVTsdds


Past W. P. Sandford Award Winners

Pre-1971: Mary Blackburn, Martin Holcomb, F.L.D. Holmes, Clara K. Mawhinney, Clarence Nystrom, Ian Rehn, Roberta Poos.

1971 G. Bradford Barber, Jessie Frederick, & Ruth Yates                                             

1972 E. Dorothy Peterson

1973 Kenneth Burns, Earl Davis, Wanda B. Mitchell, & C. Horton Talley

1974 Paul Crawford & Charlotte Lee

1975 Ralph Micken, Halbert Gulley, & L.E. Norton

1976 Birdine Groshong, R.P. Hibbs, Marion Kleinau, & Margaret Wood

1977 Carl Dallinger

1978 Jeanette Lloyd

1979 Margaret Crowley

1980 Marie J. Robinson

1981 Margaret Cadle

1982 Ralph Lane

1983 Lawrence E. Connolly

1984 Richard A. King

1985 Phillip Decker

1986 Mina Halliday

1987 Maxine Joyce

1988 Adrian Frana & George Tuttle

1989 Marvin Kleinau, Southern Illinois University

1990 Clyde Faries

1991 John Duffin

1992 Kenneth E. Anderson

1993 Richard Hunsaker, Belleville West High School

1994 Jerry Mathis

1995 Phillip Gray

1996 Elizabeth Faries

1997 E. Neal Claussen

1998 Douglas R. Springer

1999 John B. Davis

2000 Morris Snively, Belleville East High School

2001 Connie Link, Heyworth High School

2002 Jan Heiteen, Downers Grove South High School

2003 Deb Woodard, Warren High School

2004 Robert Neuleib, University High School

2005 Douglas K. Jennings, Illinois State University

2006 Craig W. Cutbirth, Illinois State University

2007 Ken Hawkinson, West Illinois University

2008 Henry Hertz, Thornton Fractional South High School

2009 Betty Jane Lawrence, Bradley University

2010 Carol Harms, Belleville East High School

2011 Allan Kimball, Southeastern Illinois College

2012 Tom Pace

2013 Elighie Wilson, Prairie State College, & Tina Winings

2014 Eric Ewan, Pekin High School

2015 Judy Santacanterina, Northern Illinois University

2016 Lauren Morgen, College of DuPage

2017 Ed Jodlowski, Olympia High School

2018  Ed Schwarz, Prairie State College

2019 No Award Given

2020 No Award Given

2021 No Award Given

2022 Jeff PrzybyƂo, Harper Community College

2023 Lisa Stout, Washington Community High School

Illinois Communication and Theatre Association

C/O Edward Schwarz

Prairie State College

202 S. Halsted St.

Chicago Heights, IL 60411

708-709-3688


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