Raqi Barnett, the 2025 North Carolina Theatre Arts Educator of the Year, was bitten by the acting bug when she was young. When Barnett got a laugh on stage while playing Lady Lemon Drop in the children’s play “The Mystery of the Gumdrop Dragon,” she was hooked.
Her career in entertainment thereafter spans continents and experiences. Many plays, musicals, and acting gigs later, she is helping students at E.E Smith High School find their place in the theater world and beyond.
Barnett was honored with the North Carolina Theater Arts Educators (NCTAE) Arts Educator of the Year award in November 2025. According to NCTAE’s website, the award is given to those who have “gone beyond the call of duty to provide an exceptional program that benefits their students and community and has shown their passion and dedication to the profession of theatrical arts.”
Barnett is the first African American educator to receive this honor. Her principal, Larry Parker, said, “We are so proud of her for representing E.E. Smith with excellence and creativity.”
Sign up for the EdWeekly, a Friday roundup of the most important education news of the week.
A history of inspiration and acting
Barnett remembers the first time she saw the movie “Tootise.” She was 8 years old, and it created an acting epiphany. In the movie, Dustin Hoffman plays a struggling actor who does really poorly on an audition, but comes back as a completely different person and lands the role. She understood that in this world — on screen — you can play multiple characters who don’t have to be anything like yourself.
She was inspired by Goldie Hawn and Carol Burnett, who she regards as comedic geniuses. She identified with the character Penny on “Good Times,” played by Janet Jackson, and liked watching Jackson’s real-life brother, Michael, perform.
Barnett’s mother was in the military, so she grew up in California, Virginia, Alaska, and eventually graduated from high school in Georgia. She graced the stage in every place she lived. She traveled the world with her mom and then married someone who was also enlisted. She spent time in Korea, Washington, D.C., and Germany, before landing in Fayetteville in 2009.
She worked for four years at Mary McArthur Elementary, an A+ School of North Carolina, which weaves the arts into education standards and experiences at every level. In 2014 she took the role of theater educator at E.E Smith High School, hitting the ground — and stage — running.
A+ Schools of North Carolina articles
Her theater program is available for ninth to 12th grade students, and has grown into four levels of classes: beginning, intermediate, accomplished, and advanced. Beginning and intermediate students learn the basics. For these two classes, the goal is for students to grow confidence while learning to perform on stage by themselves and to work with a team of characters in scenes.
For the third level, Barnett focuses on preparing her students for the professional world, giving them the opportunity to direct. In the advanced level, students are introduced to film. Each level builds upon the previous.
Outside of the classroom, Barnett directs one play and one musical per year for the school. When she joined E.E Smith High School, she recalls the theater program had around $200 in funds for plays. The first musical she directed with students was “Grease.”
Whatever profit the program makes from its musicals or plays goes toward the next production. So little by little, the theater department’s budget grew. Community sponsors started to get involved too. Over the years, alumni of the theater program have returned to help current students, whether it be with food during rehearsals or to assist in productions.
Since taking the reigns over a decade ago, Barnett’s students have participated in productions like “The Little Mermaid,” “Footloose,” “Lion King JR.,” “High School Musical,” “The Wiz,” and many more.
Students who have taken her class join the drama club to participate in productions or apply to be part of her Golden Stars Elite club — the group who manages the sound, sets, lights, and overall auditorium needs during a production run.
The role of the Golden Stars Elite falls in line with Barnett’s mission to prepare students for all jobs in the theater arts world. She’s proud of the work her students go on to do after graduation. Even beyond that, she wants every student to know they’re welcome in her classroom. Barnett wants students to know no matter what their talent, “There’s a home for everybody when it comes to theater arts.”
“Our department accepts everybody. No matter your gender, no matter your size, no matter the color of your skin, no matter who you are as a person,” Barnett said. “Theater accepts you here, and you should be able to feel safe and be whoever you want to be without being judged.”
Recommended reading
