Belhaven University will honor nine alumni in September, and Kerri Sanders, Jackson Academy’s Director of Performing Arts, is among the honorees. Selected for her contribution to excellence in the arts, Sanders joins a distinguished group of alumni who have made an imprint on their professions. Belhaven will host a banquet in their honor on September 27.
Sanders came to JA in 2017 as the Upper School theatre teacher after serving on staff at New Stage Theatre. Her work at JA has connected students with professional-level choreography, dialect training, vocal training, set building, and directing in performances such as Cinderella, West Side Story, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, works of Shakespeare, and original works such as the one-act play, “We Shall by Morning,” written and directed by Sanders. Under her leadership, JA Theatre students have had impressive showings at the Mississippi Theatre Association and ThesCon Festivals each year.
At the 2024 Mississippi Theatre Association awards ceremony, students and faculty participants were thrilled when their director received the Outstanding Contributions to Theatre Award. Gibson Cheney ‘22, former JA STAR student and Thespian President, nominated Sanders. “Mrs. Sanders has the innate ability to both create a spark of interest in a person for theatre and develop that spark into a roaring flame of passion for theatre,” Cheney wrote in his nomination letter. “When I think of people who truly exemplify what it means to contribute to theatre, the first name that comes to mind is that of Kerri Sanders.”
STAR Students have selected Sanders as their STAR teacher twice, citing her as their most influential teacher. Several of her students have moved forward to careers as professional performers. They are often drawn back to JA in volunteer or guest professional roles because of her lasting influence and that of her team of educators.
In 2024, JA named Sanders Director of Performing Arts with the charge to expand the arts focus throughout the school. Since then, she and her team have developed creative ways for students to share their love of the arts. These have included having Upper School students hosting theatre sessions for Lower School grades, collaborative initiatives where younger students create characters that older students portray on stage, appearances of costumed musical lead characters at Preschool and Lower School activities, and special pre-show events where young students come face-to-face with the characters they admire, such as Peter Pan and Cinderella.
Congratulations to JA’s Kerri Sanders! If you are a faculty or staff member honored by your university or another organization, please send the information to news@jacksonacademy.org. The school will use the information submitted to recognize individuals honored by outside organizations in a monthly story.
