UCM PR Class Visits With Starlight Staff

Fifteen students from the University of Central Missouri and their professor, Adam Horn, traveled to Starlight Theatre on Feb. 2 for an afternoon of “schooling” led by Starlight staff.

For the second straight year, a visit to Starlight was on the spring semester syllabus for students enrolled in Horn’s Entertainment Public Relations course. Their three-hour visit began with a presentation that provided an introduction to Starlight, addressing topics ranging from the theatre’s history to Broadway and concert programming to education and outreach activities. A walking tour of the Starlight stage house and venue followed. Then, the students spent time with several Starlight senior staff members who shared information about their own career paths and responsibilities at Starlight. The afternoon wrapped up with a lively Q&A session.

“My students had an outstanding experience,” Horn said. “I sincerely thank Starlight for again hosting my Entertainment PR class.”

Starlight staff were pleased to share their insights and lessons learned with the college students who hope to pursue careers in sectors ranging from nonprofit to sports marketing to social media and more. The students were interested to learn that four current Starlight staff members are alumni of UCM.

Many thanks to the Starlight staff who shared their time in this community outreach effort:

• Kent Andel, director of production
• Caroline Gibel, director of indoor programming
• Madison Fritts, operations coordinator
• Cindy Jeffries, vice president of marketing and sales
• Bryce Jones, multimedia design coordinator
• Amy Reinert-Price, director of education
• Nick Riojas, operations manager
• Barb Schulte, director of communications and outreach
• Adam Watson, digital marketing manager
• Bill Waugh, director of concerts and information systems