Theater Intern Jayden Chavez Receives Lensic's 2020 Melville Hankins Technical Theater Scholarship
Chavez to Study Arts & Entertainment Technologies at the University of Texas at Austin
The Lensic and the Melville Hankins Family Foundation have awarded a $5,000 college scholarship to theater intern and 2020 New Mexico School for the Arts valedictorian Jayden Chavez.
Chavez, of Santa Fe, was a Lensic intern during her junior and senior years at NMSA. She will attend the University of Texas at Austin this fall, where she plans to study theater lighting, projection, and audio engineering.
“Being an intern at The Lensic was one of my favorite high school experiences,” says Chavez. “I was able to explore technical theater in a truly hands-on fashion.”
“I am so, so thankful for the people I’ve met and the opportunities that I’ve experienced while at The Lensic,” she adds, “and that heartfelt thanks carries over to the Melville Hankins Family Foundation, for making continued education in technical theater possible.”
Matt Sanford, Lensic internship program director and stage manager, praises Chavez for her dedication, enthusiasm, and talent. “Jayden has worked tirelessly to seek out and understand all forms of technical theater,” he says. “She’s risen above and beyond since day one.”
Nearly 200 New Mexico high school and college students have completed The Lensic’s technical theater internship program since it was launched in 2002. The Melville Hankins Family Foundation Technical Theater Scholarship—generously funded by the Melville Hankins Family Foundation—is an annual award for outstanding Lensic interns who wish to continue their studies at the college level.
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