Fern Creek Earns $14,000 Grant For Theater Instruction

Fern Creek High School has been awarded a $14,000 grant from American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards, to further theater instruction at the school.  The Classroom Resource Grant was made possible by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative.

The grant will allow students in the school’s theater program to formalize learning in scenic, costume, light, sound, hair/makeup and props for design and construction.

“Technical instruction is critical to prepare students for careers in the theater,” Alexander MacPhail-Fausey, theater director and teacher at Fern Creek. “By concentrating on the connections between design and construction in all disciplines connected to production, students will be able to start building portfolios before they graduate, giving them better chances of entering a theater program in college, or pursuing a career or apprenticeship in a theater immediately out of high school.”

Fern Creek is one of only three high schools in the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District offering the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Communication and Media Arts program, which includes instrumental/vocal music and theater, among other concentrations.

With the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation’s help, the American Theatre Wing is investing in public schools to help drama teachers get more of the resources they need to provide quality drama instruction in their schools. This project is an expansion of the work that the multi-Tony Award winning composer and producer has been doing to promote and fund arts education through his Foundation in the United Kingdom.