The Kay Theater Foundation was recently awarded a grant from the Central Texas Council of Government’s Development District of Central Texas 2024 Rural Internship Program to hire high school interns for the summer to help staff the Kay Theater. “With the Sesquicentennial Celebration, the Kay is both producing and hosting several events for the community,” said Kay Theater President Brian Beard. “As a volunteer-driven organization, we decided it was a good opportunity to secure additional help.”
Upon being awarded the $1,000 grant, the Kay Theater put out a call for applications to which nine outstanding students responded. On Friday, June 7, the Kay held an Intern Applicant Meet and Greet with their board to which six applicants attended. “All six had different strengths and interests which made it very difficult to narrow down the pool to just one or two,” said Board Member Addie Garrison. “The Kay was able to reach out to its donor community to secure the funds needed to extend offers to all six candidates who are future leaders in our community.”
In addition to staffing the operations of the movie series this summer, The Kay is hosting a rock concert by The Fallback Plan during the sesquicentennial, as well as screenings of recordings of RISD high school One Act Play and intermediate and elementary plays and will also host a panel of Alcoa Retirees discussing the history of Alcoa. Additional events planned by the students may be added.
Each of the candidates expressed a desire to do something to improve their community and create more entertainment opportunities for their peers and siblings. “Having addressed some maintenance issues, improved our sound and projection experience, and kept the theater active with movies, live music and theater productions – development of Youth Programs has been high on our list of goals,” said Beard. “We are excited to hear what creative program ideas the team can conceptualize!” The Kay intends to use these student-designed program concepts to apply for grants in hopes of implementing Youth Programs in 2025.
Information about the Kay Theater’s Movie and Events schedule can be found at www.KayTheater.org and on Facebook.
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