The lights in the theater dim, and with that, the crowd’s noise dies down until only a quiet whispering remains. There’s not a sound in the air as the curtains rustle, concealing all of the color, noise and talent behind it. Suddenly, the spotlights cut through the darkness, a beam of light focusing on the center of the stage. A moment passes before the curtains slide sideways in one graceful motion to start the show.

English teacher Sara Snow has been teaching at Wayland High School for two years and, previously, at Brookline High School for one year; however, before teaching, she was a theatrical agent, working with actors and stars everyday.

“I always worked in theater or music — classical music concerts — promoting them,” Snow said.

Snow grew up in London, England and worked in a theater there. While in London, Snow collaborated with people like Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer of “The Phantom of the Opera,” and Patti LuPone, a famous Broadway actress.

Looking back, Snow says one of her favorite memories at the theater was when she had to go to Harrods, a well known store in London, and buy twenty baskets of sausages in all different shapes and sizes to give to the actors as first night presents from the producer.

However, when Snow moved to Massachusetts, she decided to start her own organic baby food company. Snow thinks if she had moved to New York, she would have continued in the theater industry, but Boston was different, so she decided to do something fresh.

“In Boston it wasn’t totally obvious how [working in theater] would play out, so I did something completely different,” Snow said.

Snow recalls experiences she had selling baby food, saying her craziest story was when she sold food to a 60-year-old woman.

“When I tentatively asked her if it was for her grandchild, she replied, ‘Oh no, it’s for my cat, Dibbles. He loves it!’” Snow said.

After starting her own company, she realized there were two parts to working in her baby food company.

“There was the business side, and then there was the sort of mission-driven marketing side when I would go and talk to mothers’ groups about healthy food for their babies,” Snow said.

She realized she didn’t want to be in business, but she only really enjoyed the explaining part when she got to teach the parents the benefits.

“I love [the explaining] whole piece much more than the business side, and I realized that I just loved teaching people, informing, collaborating or discussing,” Snow said.

This was not the only thing that influenced Snow’s decision to teach. She explains she had a good education herself, so she thought that she should pass on her knowledge to other students.

“I wanted to pass on some of the things I’d learned growing up,” Snow said.

Even when she wasn’t a teacher, Snow taught off and on her whole life. While a student, she traveled to many different places, and ended up in India, teaching in a British school in New Delhi and giving small lessons to the students.

Finally, Snow found herself teaching at Brookline High School, and a year later, at WHS, doing just what she wanted: passing on her knowledge to the 9th and 11th graders.

Snow says she loves it all: the age group and the kids. According to her, she could spend the whole lesson talking to her students about non-English subjects, and she often has to remind herself to stay on topic.

“I love when you’re just embarking on being young adults [with] all the trials and the tribulations and the stresses,” Snow said. “I’m so curious about you and your lives.”

Not only does Snow love the students, but she also loves language. Speaking French, Spanish and English, Snow loves the way that language works. According to her, she is fond of words and could sit for ages with just one sentence.

“I love language and how it works and how it’s flexible and how you can manipulate language and be creative with language,” Snow said.

Snow shares that after years of teaching, the top two things that she has learned is to hold her tongue and to ask questions. She explains she is a very outward person, and she has to make sure to let her students talk and try to connect the dots by themselves instead of just telling them the information. She also thinks it is important to get to know her students, so she can know how far to push them.

“One of the biggest things teaching has taught me is to listen and to learn from listening,” Snow said.

Snow’s biggest role models were both of her grandmothers. One of them was one of the first women to go to the University of Cambridge. She spoke both English and German, and Snow describes her as a strong and intelligent woman.

“Whenever I was playing the piano and would hit the wrong note, I would hear [my grandmother] from the living room [say], ‘F sharp!’” Snow said.

According to Snow, her other grandmother was also intelligent but maybe not as book smart. Snow describes her as eccentric, funny, brave, courageous and her own person.

“She was a wonderful cook, a brilliant storyteller,” Snow said. “She drove in car allies, she raced cars.”

Snow enjoys her job as a teacher here at WHS. She advises students to take a deep breath and know it’ll all be okay.

“It’s going to be wonderful. Whatever it is, you’re going to be great,” Snow said.