Jay Hanaway has been the auditorium and performance director for Wheeler High School and Union Township Middle School for 11 years. Hanaway grew up in theater where it initially sparked the passion for him that stuck to this day. Theater was a way for Hanaway to express himself, but it was also a safe haven for him, a place where he could escape starting in middle school and still through high school.
Hanaway wanted to pass down his love for theater to other people and create that same safe space that he could find solitude in. Hanaway had a rough time in his middle school years, and theater was his escape from that; it was something that stuck with him through the years. It just so happened that the position that opened for a job in theater was for Hanaway, which is also the place where he graduated from: Wheeler High school.
“I was bullied in middle school and so I found a safe haven in theater and it meant the world to me and I continued it through high school,” said Hanaway. “This is the theater I grew up in. So to be able to come back and take the helm and keep it in the direction we were going is a really cool thing for me."
Hanaway’s main priorities while on the job are undertakings, ranging from managing the schedule and maintenance to set design and helping run both the theater program and drama club. Hanaway helps around in nearly any way he can, even occasionally helping out the choir class for concerts and other events as well.
Hanaway loves his job and what he does for many different reasons, and it never gets old for him because what they’re doing is always changing in the theater. Hanaway is never bored doing his job and he enjoys the creative freedom with it.
“It’s kind of a double sided coin; one of the biggest things that I love about my job is that I get to be creative with it all the time. The job is ever-changing, we’re always working on a different production so there’s always a need for creativity which I love," said Hanaway. "And then the other side of the coin is that I love to be able to give kids a safe space to be themselves and to test out things and test out roles and characters and really step out of their comfort zones."
Theater takes up a lot of time, and although Hanaway loves his job, he still has to find the time to prioritize his family and friends. Hanaway also has many hobbies, a lot stemming from the skills he possesses from set design and helping around the stage in activities such as crafting and building.
“I do a lot; a lot of crafting and a lot of building as well as yard work and things like that. But I just like spending time with my family and my husband, just kind of getting to be with people that I care about,” said Hanaway.