Elise Eskew Sparks (“Dr. ES”) is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of NC at Chapel Hill. After 7 years of high school teaching in Winston-Salem, NC, she earned a Masters in Choral Conducting at Emory University and a Ph.D. at Georgia State University. She has extensive experience in teaching at all levels of choral education, from Pre-K classes to collegiate and adult church choirs. She has served as the Director of Choral Activities at Agnes Scott College since 2008. A mezzo soprano, she sings with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus. She enjoys reading, cooking, and playing with her young twins, Meredith and Fisher. Dr. ES has led DHS Chorus to consistently earn Superior ratings at District IV’s Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE) Festival. Under her direction, the program has grown to over 160 members in 4 classes, and is building a reputation for excellent performances celebrating a variety of musical styles, highly motivated and talented members, and an immensely fun and enriching area of study at Decatur High School.

Amy Rawlins hails from the great state of Massachusetts, where she spent the first 18 years of her life.  Upon graduating high school, Ms. Rawlins attended Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. After many sleepless nights spent memorizing lines, burning through dozens of pairs of tap/characters shoes, and countless hours of voice lessons later… she received her BFA in Musical Theatre. Ms. Rawlins moved back to MA after graduating from college to save some money before making the big move to NYC to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a Radio City Rockette. In addition to working as an actress in several theatres in Boston, she began teaching Drama and Dance at Chelsea High School in Chelsea, MA – and was instantly bitten by the teaching bug! Always the director, she also started an extremely successful after school theatre program, producing 4 shows a year.  Realizing this is what she wanted to do, Ms. Rawlins cast her high-kicking dreams aside, and attended Boston’s Emerson College, and obtaining her MA in Theatre Education. After 11 years of teaching at CHS (and a private dance studio in Newton, MA), Ms. Rawlins met the man of her dreams and decided to take a chance on love and move to Georgia. She is thrilled to be at Decatur High School, working with the amazingly talented kids in the fine arts department.  Ms. Rawlins teaches Musical Theatre Ensemble, Musical Theater Tech, IB Theatre, and is the Musical Theatre Director.