Jay McCulloch: Alumni to Faculty

James “Jay” McCulloch is an SC4 alum, English teacher at Marine City High School and adjunct English instructor at the college. Jay combines his passions for English and music through his work as a drama director and oversees the SC4 and Marine City High School theatre programs.

In high school, Jay developed a love for music, and when he graduated high school in 1992, he was sure that he would be writing music, leading a band or studying piano. Following high school, he started taking a lot of music classes at SC4 with Charles Stevens and Margaret Stone. According to Jay, he had a heavy focus on piano, saying, “I took whatever I could there.” He also took English and literature classes with Suzanne O’Brien, Susanna Defever and now board member John Lusk. This was when Jay’s passion for literature and writing began to build.

“I had wonderful teachers in high school, but their [SC4 instructors] approach was more of how what you read and write relates back to your life, and that’s what I’m all about.” He also explained that they focused on the question, “How can what you read and write make you a better human being? That is the heartbeat of why I teach.”

After SC4, Jay attended Western Michigan University to continue his piano studies but changed directions when he discovered that he would spend 6–8 hours in a practice room every day on top of his role in the marching band. According to Jay, he was not built to be couped up in a practice room that long. While at SC4, his instructors encouraged him to continue his writing. Building on his SC4 foundation, Jay pursued his love of writing and literature and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Western. After graduating, he decided he wanted to teach others and help literature come alive, just as his instructors at SC4 had done for him. In his words, he “wanted to be a Suzanne O’Brien or a Susanna Defever.”

Jay was hired as a Marine City High School teacher shortly after his graduation from Western. He has taught at Marine City for 25 years and has overseen their drama department since 2001. During his time there, he directed 85 productions.

Jay has taught on and off as an adjunct at SC4 since 2001 but consistently started teaching at the college in 2013, teaching English 75, 101, 102 and Drama as Literature. Jay has overseen SC4 theatre productions since 2023 and has directed Kodachrome, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and will be directing Everything I Know I Learned in Kindergarten at the end of February.

“We have a wonderful staff at SC4 in the fine arts department, and everyone does their part to grow excitement for not just theatre but instrumental and vocal and art. It’s a good group of people over there.” 

Describing the theatre program, Jay said,

“It’s a great place to connect. Don’t be a part of it necessarily because you want to be the next great actor, but do it to see what theatre is all about and, more importantly, to make connections with other people.

When asked to name his three favorite books, Jay refused and named five instead: The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Road, Harry Potter and the half-blood Prince, Wonder, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

For more information on SC4’s upcoming productions, visit the SC4 arts events calendar