Queen Creek Performing Arts Director Molly Jacobs named March Hometown Hero

By Terrance Thornton
Twitter: @ININEWSMAN

For countless American youngsters, the performing arts provide a respite from the pressures of school, parents, and, at times, just being a kid.

The Queen Creek Performing Arts Center --- under the helm of Molly Jacobs for nearly 20 years --- is such a place where local youth learn the discipline needed for performance and the joy of creative expression.

“I’ve seen Molly in action,” said Queen Creek resident Debra Kuffner.

“Her students trust her. They like her. They listen. She commands their attention. Molly’s teaching style is a unique combination of parenting, coaching, teaching, and mentoring. She uses relatable stories to provide on-the-spot feedback, and she frequently invites and incorporates her students’ feedback directly into the scene.”

The Queen Creek Independent is pleased to announce, Ms. Jacobs, director of the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center, as the March 2021 Hometown Hero bestowed in the Educator category. Ms. Jacobs was nominated for this category by Ms. Kuffner.

“Molly’s teaching methods alternate between one-on-one interactions, group lessons, small group teamwork, and large group reflection,” Ms. Kuffner said. “It is standard practice in Molly’s classroom that you are actively present, give as much as you can, practice self-reflection, be safe, and encourage each other.”

Ms. Kuffner says, at times, she has marveled at Ms. Jacob’s ability to pirouette between teaching styles to meet the individual needs of student-performers.

“She has a keen ability to lead a revolving and diverse group of students, identifying their individual skills and talents, and bringing it all together into a collaborative performance filled with storytelling, music, song, and dance,” she said. “It is extraordinary and deserving of recognition.”

--- Debra Kuffner

The lessons learned at the Performing Arts Center, Ms. Kuffner contends, are experiences that stay with the student-performers.

“Molly’s personality is her talent,” she said. “She inspires and she motivates. Her students remember lessons learned in the theatre throughout their entire lifespan. Important life skills such as perseverance, humility, safe risk-taking and self-discovery.”

The first to admit she is not a certified educator, Ms. Jacobs’ vast experience in the performing arts speaks for itself.

“Although I’m not a certified teacher, I am an educator and empowerer of the arts,” she said. “Even though we work with performers age 5 to adult, it is so fulfilling to see the kids flourish. In the arts, everyone fits in. There is no one not welcome. Everyone feels empowered and encouraged and is willing to take on big stuff, really putting themselves out there.”

But like the adage, “it takes a village,” Ms. Jacobs says the success of the Performing Arts Center can be attributed to support from the community.

“Our performing arts center has flourished because of our community, volunteers, students, performers, and audiences --- it just really comes together,” she said. “My goal was to be a bright light in the community in this time. You could just see the joy on the faces. The community truly embraces us, not only for theatre, but as an outlet.”

The Queen Creek Independent, along with East Valley Institute of Technology, Sterling Services, and the Queen Creek Olive Mill salute Ms. Jacobs as this month’s Queen Creek Hometown Heroes Awards recipient.

A view of a recent peformance of "Seussical The Musical, Jr." at the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center.

Nominations sought

Submissions will continuously be sought from the Queen Creek community in multiple categories. All nominations to aznews@newszap.com will be reviewed, and monthly winners will be selected based on their community contributions.

Nominations should include name, email address, and phone number along with the category of nomination, some details about the person being nominated and what accomplishments they have done.

A nomination form is here.

Editor’s note: Sarah Nieto contributed to this story.