Park City High School junior Zoey Stender will open the curtain on the inaugural Spotlight for Joy gala fundraiser next week. The event, hosted by Dr. Arron Stockham and scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Hale Centre Theatre Legacy Room in Sandy, will raise money for her nonprofit, Spotlig ht for Joy Opportunity Fund, which will benefit theater programs in public schools. “Our theme is Pure Joy, and this is not a stuffy fundraiser,” she said. “Our mission is to help fund performance education in underfunded public schools, and it’s going to be a fun night.” The festivities will begin with a mocktail hour, because the event is youth-forward and youth run, said Stender, an Egyptian Theatre YouTheatre alum. “All of our volunteers are friends of mine and teenagers,” she said. In addition to the soda bar, attendees will be treated to some live entertainment by other talented friends. “Chloe Sawyer, who is in college for art and is so mega talented, will draw caricatures of everyone in their beautiful evening wear,” Stender said. “We’ll also have a live violinist, Ella Sanyal, perform, because I am very lucky to have a friend who has played in Russia and China.” The night will continue after the mocktail hour with a sit-down, full-course meal by Magelby’s, according to Stender. “It’s going to be very yummy,” she said. An after-dinner program will start with a few speeches by Stender and David Smith, Hale Centre Theatre’s director of education and resident director. “Then we’ll have a performance by local teens,” Stender said. “I think our youngest performer is 11 or 12, and our oldest is 19.” The 45-minute showcase will spotlight different aspects of theater including songs, dance and monologues, Stender said. “At one point two kids will dance and say they want to dance with somebody and get people on their feet,” she said. “I’m lucky to have some of the best performers in Utah step up and say they wanted to be a part of this.” A live and silent auction will serve as the main fundraising, Stender said. “Steakhouses and restaurants have donated dinner packages, and another item will (feature) a professional chef who will come to your house and cook dinner for 10,” she said. “We also have skis and goggles donated by Cole Sport, a week stay at a luxury mansion for 12 in Park City, and Utah Mammoth tickets and s’mores packages.” The money raised during the gala will specifically support Granger High School and Granite Park Middle School theater programs, Stender said. “We chose those schools after looking at demographics and the students’ loves,” she said. “We looked at the number of students who were on free lunch programs and talked with teachers and saw what sparks their students’ passions.” In February, Stender founded the Spotlight for Joy Opportunity Fund because she wanted to share her love of the performing arts. She also wanted to give back to the community who made it possible for her to participate in this profession. “I have been very lucky to be blessed with so much theater education in my life, and there were two events that served as an inspiration to found Spotlight for Joy Opportunity Fund,” she said. One was a donation to the Egyptian Theatre’s YouTheater program. “A donor gave a grant to the YouTheatre, which made all the classes accessible right when I wanted to really start training,” she said. “I was able to take at least one class a day and was in that basement until 8:30 p.m. every night. I loved it, and it’s how I found myself as a performer and as a person.” The second event also included a donation. “Someone gave a grant to my school’s theater program, and we got microphones and tap shoes,” she said. “It was like rainbows and unicorns, and all of a sudden we could do all of these really cool things.” So, Stender began thinking of how she could do what others have done for her. “I wanted to find a way to make an impact on people’s lives like the ones that have changed mine,” she said. “So, I decided to form a nonprofit.” Stender has loved theater ever since she portrayed the Green Bird Girl in an all-school version of “Seussical the Musical” when she was 6. “That was my first play and we were living in Texas,” she said. “I was thrown into ballet when we moved to Utah because my mom said, ‘Zoey, you need friends.’” While Stender loved ballet, she had to choose between that and theater, and she decided to focus on acting. “I’m on my school’s dance team, so I’m still connected with the dance side of things,” she said. Stender first worked with Egyptian Theatre’s YouTheatre as a visitor in 2019. “We moved here fulltime in 2020, and that’s when I started doing more with them during the COVID era,” she said.  Spotlight for Joy Opportunity Fund’s overarching philosophy is about how theater edifies children holistically, according to Stender. “It’s so much more than singing and dancing,” she said. “We believe it fosters belonging. We believe it fosters creativity. We also believe it fosters communication, which is sometimes brushed over in public schools.” Theater also helps kids become better adults, Stender said. “We have done our research and found that performing arts keeps kids in school, a place where they can learn and be kids,” she said. “It also increases test scores and makes it possible for young people to more likely get jobs.” Spotlight for Joy gala When: 6 p.m. Sept. 12 Where: Hale Centre Theatre Legacy Room, 9900 S. Monroe St., Sandy Registration:  thespotlightforjoy.max.gives/tickets Web: thespotlightforjoy.max.gives The post Park City High School junior’s nonprofit is a Spotlight for Joy appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less