HUMBOLDT PARK — A Kickstarter campaign launched by two Erie Elementary Charter School teachers for a school play has reached its $6,000 goal.
As of its closing Wednesday evening, it had even surpassed the goal by $351.
"It feels GREAT to have the Kickstarter funded," music teacher Kim Kays wrote in an email Tuesday after they'd reached their goal. "It was a slow start, but [these] last few days we had an amazing jump in backers."
Though she and Evan Trad, the play's director and special education teacher at Erie, are ecstatic at having raised the money, there's not much time to celebrate.
After all, there's a play to put on, which this year will be a production of Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach."
"Our first priority for the money is to find a sound board and spotlight," Kays wrote. "We have a production meeting on Wednesday to discuss the set and auditions for the play next week! Now that the Kickstarter is over, it's time for the REAL work to start."
Not only has the money provided them with a budget that's more than four times the usual, it will help make for better productions in the future by saving money on equipment rentals.
"We've rented it in the past so to be able to own it will be really, really, really exciting and helpful not only for our productions but other things that happen throughout the year," Trad said in an interview Wednesday.
Each Friday, for instance, the school has a morning meeting where each of the school's homeroom classes take turns giving presentations.
"A lot of times it's really hard for the classes to be heard, so having that sound equipment will be really helpful," he said.
As for this year's play, "James and the Giant Peach," Trad and Kays anticipate performances will begin in early February.
