Director of the JaCo Fine Arts Program

The JaCo Fine Arts program is an outreach and enrichment program for Jackson County students that focuses on art exposure. Theatre is my specialty , and I love getting to show our students how all aspects of the arts are used to bring a show to life! My overall goal with this program is to foster an appreciation for the arts and highlight how integral an arts education can be to one's success.

I became a Fine Arts instructor due to my own experiences within the theatre. I saw how integral it was to my life, not just in my career but my personal growth as well, and felt inspired to share this art form with others. I felt moved to bring this back to my home of Jackson County because if it wasn't for that one teacher, I would have never had this experience. I also saw how the arts benefited my academic skills. I never was great at analyzing literature until I started looking at it from the POV's of actors and directors. I learned mathematic skills that were never taught to me in the typical classroom. I just new there were more kids like me in our school system, and I wanted those students to have an opportunity to exercise talents that aren't really part of learning the core academics. I am very blessed and thankful to have the opportunity that I do, and through this position I've been able to see how supportive of the arts our county is. I cannot wait to showcase how talented our students are!

I started performing at what some might consider as late in the game. I was an athlete all my life until my junior year of high school when our English teacher, Mrs. Nevels, took us to see Into the Woods at NACC for extra credit. All of my friends started telling me that I should audition for the next play. I always knew I wanted to pursue something creative as my career choice. At the time it was cinematography, so I had never really considered live theatre, but I took the chance. I remember going home and telling my mom that I wanted to do theatre, and I quit the athletics I was involved in and began focusing on my audition. I auditioned for the next year of productions at NACC the July right before my senior year, and the rest is history. Since then, I have worked in roughly 20 different productions either acting, singing, designing, or crew.

The kids and the audience. Like I said before, I know there are students who are just like me, and I am so glad that they now have an opportunity to exercise and showcase their talents. Getting to see how excited they are for this experience is also uplifting. They are just so thankful to have this outlet now, and it makes me proud to be working with them. What's also really cool is seeing how these kids inspire our audiences. Theatre is about holding a mirror up to the world and inviting people to walk in the shoes of someone else. There are stories told on the stage that an audience member might otherwise never experience. But through the story, the audience can have an understanding of these real life situations, experiences, and emotions. Then when you see young actors move the audiences to these places of understanding and empathy, it's a really powerful thing.

I think Meryl Streep is my favorite performer of all time. She's played multiple different characters with vastly different personalities, and each one she's given an authentic performance for. Authenticity is a skill that is really hard to come by in actors, and I just love watching actors who can integrate it into their performance. I also have to give a shout-out to Lin-Manuel Miranda. He truly is the greatest of our generation and has pioneered a new age of musical theatre.

I really enjoy problem solving games like sudoku and crosswords! If I really put my mind to it, I can complete a 1000 piece puzzle within a day! I am also unapologetically a Disney fanatic, but more specifically obsessed with Walt Disney World. I find it really fascinating how the smallest of details all play a role in making the parks as immersive as possible. Truly a theatre techie's dream!

Break a Leg Jackson County!