She was teacher who inspired her theater students to reach for their highest goals in life.

Now, those former students and many others in the Quitman school district want Kristina Linker Johnson’s efforts memorialized by naming the school theater in her honor. Johnson passed away April 28 in a Tyler hospital after a lengthy illness.

Johnson was a 1986 graduate of Quitman High School and spent her 29-year teaching career at Quitman.  Her one act play teams took 18 district titles, had numerous area and region success and six times went to the state finals in Austin.

The possibility was discussed at the May QISD  board meeting. At that time, the board decided to hand it over to the facilities committee to come up with a plan to honor Johnson. The facility committee is made up of Michael Hipp, James Hicks and Royce Patterson. 

At that meeting, Superintendent Rhonda Turner said, “I want to make sure we do it correctly and do it the right way. I would like for our facilities committee to take this on knowing we are going to honor her and do something in her name. Let’s let the facilities committee come up with a plan and a design. I want to give you all the opportunity to look through all these letters that have been submitted so you would have a good understanding of what we need to do for her.”

Former student Nate Jackson has been one of many former students who spoke out on the topic. He started an online petition about the matter. Jackson now resides in Chicago, Ill.

“I continue to wrestle with finding words to describe what Ms. Johnson gave me. She was more than a teacher, she was a guardian angel. She gave me the sweetest memories, the closest friends, the courage to be better than I thought I could be, and a deep love for theater,” Jackson explained. “She saw our potential and knew we could achieve greatness. She put her heart and soul into that program. She was the first person I called when I got accepted to my dream college. She was on the front row for my first professional play. At the end of the day, her approval was the only one that mattered.”

Hipp said the facilities committee had met and taken in a lot of information. “It has sparked us to consider how this has been done in the past and the direction we need to go in the future. We met and it was a very lengthy conversation. We looked at the need for criteria in the naming of facilities,” Hipp said. “Tina was always pleasant to me, she was always smiling. I also always love the fact that her program was a consistent winner and so many of her students went on after high school to achieve success. We are still looking at more information as it comes in.” 

Former teacher, parent and grandparent, Sally Attaway, was touched by Johnson’s efforts.

“From a grandparent’s point of view, Ms. Johnson was a mentor to all students. She taught our grandson, Billy Brannon. To explain all the positive influence she had on him would make a book in itself. Billy had a place to fit in. He had a family at and after school. She challenged him in every area of life, not just UIL events and in one act plays,” Attaway claimed. “From a teacher’s point of view, Ms. Johnson created a family environment for her students. It was a safe place where they were loved, had a sense of belonging and strict rules with no nonsense allowed. She saw potential as a group and as individuals thus giving them the desire to succeed not only in one act plays, but also in their life after high school.” 

Former student Travers Johnson, 2007 graduate, said, “Tina Linker Johnson was a mentor, advocate and my favorite high school teacher. As a theater director, she introduced me to Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Sondheim (Into the Woods) and Schenkkan (Fire in the Hole). As an English teacher, she nurtured my love of language. As an oral interpretation coach, she helped me find my voice. Ms. Johnson taught me how to compete fiercely, lose graciously and win humbly.”

Cole Driver, QHS graduate in 2013, resides in New York. He said, “The Texas one act play circuit is vicious, a knife-fight of hyper-competitive theater teachers who want to bring home the booty at the state meet in Austin, and she really, really, really hated to lose. She came back year after year, sometimes shoving away higher paying jobs in other districts, with resolve knowing that the tree she planted in Quitman would grow better and bolder roots that would spread across the country, or stay close to home, to become book editors, lawyers, doctors, soldiers, firefighters, journalist and other theater teachers, and for me, the courage to just become myself.”

There are four facilities in QISD named after former students, school board members and staff: The agriculture building for former student Skylar Carpenter and Tom Brady, the athletic field house after Bill Poe, the Delbert Ballard Memorial Gym and Bud Moody Stadium.  

The next QISD board meeting is June 21.