A congenial and chatty atmosphere is dotted by happy buzzing students on a Tuesday morning as Theatre Director Jason Burgess calls the class to attention. Posters bearing familiar names are lined along the walls, from classic musicals like Oklahoma to more current fare like Shrek. Burgess goes through the list of the day’s goals and general news before dispatching the young members of his Acting, Directing and Playwrighting class with a rousing “go team!”

Under Burgess’ watch, both the Highlands Middle School and High School drama programs have flourished, and Burgess attributes much of that success to encouraging his students to trust their own knowledge and instincts.

The Highlands theatre department seems to be constantly gearing up for the next performance. The highschoolers recently shuttered a run of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Kentucky Cycle and currently the middle school is prepping Madeline while the high school eyes the upcoming Damn Yankees. “I tell the students all the time that I don’t care if they do this for a living, whether they stick with theatre or whether they major in law or business or education,” Burgess says. “The biggest thing I want them to know are how to speak and communicate clearly, how to be independent, how to own your screw-ups and always be moving forward.”

An organization this busy requires constant upkeep to its theatres and technology, and Burgess says that grants funded by the Education Foundation have helped to supply iPads for scripts to cut down on paper costs and costly upgrades to soundboards and intelligent lighting fixtures (a joint grant with Standing Room Only). “There’s never a ‘no’ conversation with the education foundation,” says Burgess. “It’s always ‘how can we help?’ They’ve definitely been instrumental in keeping the quality of what people come to see in this program at a high level.”

Like all teachers, Burgess always has a wish list – for him it currently includes visual technology to allow guests outside the theatre to watch the performances inside – but says he consistently feels like the Education Foundation has his and all FTIS educators’ backs. “I have never in my seventeen years of being in this school felt like there was something that I couldn’t have to make my job better from a teaching standpoint,” Burgess says, “and I definitely believe the Education Foundation is a main reason for that.”

Give to the Annual Appeal today so we can continue to support inspiring programs like this one! Each year, through the FTEF Teacher Grant Program, we strive to support our wonderful teachers and ask them dream about how they can continue to impact the educational experience of their students. Then, YOUR contributions help fund their dreams. For twenty-two years we have supported our teachers’ dreams and have positively impacted the educational experience for every single student in all five of our schools. We need your help so that current and future generations of Bluebirds have the best so they can be their best. Every dollar helps every student in every school!