Who We Are
The Daily Youth Theatre is a program which believes that the experience that accompanies the process of theatre is just as, if not more, important than theatre productions themselves. We seek to showcase all skills learned by giving a production that is filled with the best utilization of those skills. These showcases will be tailored to give our students the best chance to succeed, while showing off all the hard work put into any of our classes. We have a high bar for our students, but we cannot set those bars without knowing we can take the time to individually work with every student to achieve success. This is a program with a place for everyone, and we will work tirelessly to maintain that inclusion of all talents at all levels.
General Information
Grade Levels: For Daily Arts Academy classes, enroll your child according to their current grade level. For Rocket Summer Theatre, enroll your child according to the grade they will be in Fall 2013. Children are grouped so that we may appropriately serve their developmental levels.
Departure: Please park and come inside to check your student(s) out. There will be a DYT teacher in the lobby to make sure that everyone leaves with a safe adult. For Daily Arts Academy, check-out begins as early as 5:45 p.m. For Rocket Summer Theatre, students may be checked out at 3 p.m.
If there are any other arrangements in how your child is getting home, those need to be discussed with the Youth Director.
Medical Needs and Illness: Please make sure that the emergency numbers you provide are for someone who is available to come should your child need to leave. If students tell us they are ill enough to go home, we will take them at their word! Medical needs should be clearly outlined. The more thorough you are, the more efficient we can be.
Bring: During the summer camp, students should bring two snacks, a sack lunch, and close toe shoes. The Auditorium provides a refrigerator and a microwave.
The Youth Director, Andy McGuire
Andy McGuire was born and raised in Boone, Iowa and earned his Theatre degree at Central College in Pella, Iowa. His first teaching experience was in 2008, when he became director of the Pella Shakespeare Company Youth Troupe. After college, he worked as an education intern at the Des Moines Playhouse before moving to the Twin Cities to teach for CLIMB, a touring theatre company that travels around
much of the upper Midwest. Andy continued to teach summer classes at the Des Moines Playhouse and was asked to return to the Pella Shakespeare Company and redesign the youth troupe from a month-long, production style program into a weeklong, experience based workshop. In 2011, he moved to Chicago, where he taught for three companies: The Emerald City Theatre, the Improv Playhouse, and The Christian Youth Theatre. Andy returned to Iowa to embark upon the creation of a Des Moines Opera group, Opera Eight, and now is proud to step into the shoes of Youth Director at the George Daily Auditorium.
Kaitlyn Graves is a senior education major at William Penn University with a focus in history and psychology. Kaitlyn has been involved in theatre for many years from acting to working behind the scenes. Kaitlyn has taken many classes and workshops to further her education in theatre. She is currently the Administrative Assistant at the George Daily Auditorium where she helps with box office, marketing, and many other things. She is also the Teaching Apprentice for the youth program.
Melanie Mackey is a senior Digital Communications major with an emphasis in Public Relations. She writes and edits the William Penn Chronicle as well as publications for the Public Relations office. Melanie has been in many Penn plays and has been involved in theatre and improv since ninth grade. She coaches gymnastics at Transform Academy, is a member of the academic honors fraternity Alpha Lambda Delta, and works as a student ambassador giving tours of William Penn to interested students.
Sabrina Maloy is currently a sophomore at William Penn University studying elementary education. She has been involved with theatre since seventh grade. Originally from Ottumwa, Sabrina is involved in theatre, color guard, William Penn Singers, the Penn Zone, Nu Psi Tau, and Alpha Lambda Delta, an academic honors fraternity.