AUSTIN, Texas — Who said students have to fall into the summer slump and forget what they've learned over the school year?
Students interested in fine arts are putting their skills to good use. Austin ISD students have the option to participate in a series of plays through a summer theatre series.
We caught up with some students earlier this week. Middle school and high school students spent the day learning new moves from a professional dancer. In addition to performing on stage, they can work backstage or learn the technical aspect of fine arts.
The first performance they have coming up is "In The Heights," the musical, and the director said this is a great opportunity for students to learn something new.
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"Some of these schools and programs that maybe don't get a lot of attention, maybe don't get a lot of financial support, we start to see the value of it in terms of what it's doing for students in that community and that particular school," said Marco Bazan, director of "In The Heights."
This program is free to those involved. For the first time ever, the Austin Ed Fund is sponsoring the series. The nonprofit focuses on helping students in the district.
Another student said it's giving her the opportunity to practice her Spanish because the play "Aladdin" is dual language.
"I have Spanish classes," said Ariana Reyes, who is in the "Aladdin" play. "We have to speak Spanish and here with this musical, we have to also speak Spanish and English."
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There will be a special red carpet preview of "In The Heights" Thursday night. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center.
There are a total of three performances over the summer:
In The Heights
July 18 through July 21 on the AISD Performing Arts main stage
Aladdin
July 25 through July 28 in the Austin ISD PAC Black Box Theatre
Take Five: Shifting Perspectives on (Dis)Ability
July 27 and July 28
You can buy tickets here. We have also created a full list of kid summer camps in the Austin area.
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