Volunteer Spotlight: Manchester Student Pursues Passion at GiGi’s Playhouse Fort Wayne

Emily instructing GiGi U with participant Tobiah

GiGi’s Playhouse Fort Wayne is 99 percent volunteer-led. Each year, we host multiple high school and college students for internships in our Playhouse. Read more about our incredible interns and the work they’re doing to assist with our free, purposeful programs in our volunteer spotlight series. 

Emily, tell us a little bit about yourself – the basics, year in school, extracurricular activities, etc.

I am originally from Monticello, Indiana, and I am interning through Manchester University.
I will be graduating in May of this year with a degree in Educational Studies and a focus on Special Education. A fun fact about me is that I have a music background and played clarinet for seven years!

Why did you choose GiGi’s Playhouse Fort Wayne for your internship?

I chose GiGi’s Playhouse Fort Wayne for my internship because I would gain experience working with students of all ages and work closely with family and community members.

What is your favorite project or activity you’ve been a part of so far at the Playhouse?

I am teaching in the tutoring program and LMNOP, as well as taking part in creating literacy and mathematics lesson plans weekly. My favorite experience so far is teaching LMNOP, Language Music N’ Our Peeps, this is an interactive program for ages 0–36-month old’s. I teach sign-language and other forms of communication while using music and language-based activities!