She was surprised to see his name in the pile.
Back in June, when Terry Fox Theatre general manager Mandara Lebovitz was sorting through resumes for the front-of-house job at the Port Coquitlam facility, she saw a CV from Graham Myers.
Lebovitz had known Myers through his improv work with Second Storey Theatre, a downtown PoCo comedy club he was forced to close this summer because of financial woes.
Myers, it seemed, was eager to get back on track soon.
Intrigued, Lebovitz got in touch with administrators at School District 43, which runs the theatre, to see what could be done about making full use of Myers' talents.
Recently, they had received data that showed gaps in the district for affordable, after-school programming - and the Terry Fox catchment was identified, said SD43 assistant superintendent Sylvia Russell.
The concept of employing Myers as an arts co-ordinator to create high-quality, low-cost arts workshops for students - while also using the Terry Fox Theatre during its slow times - was appealing to them.
"We knew of Graham because he's worked in the schools a lot in the past as a contractor," Russell said. "He's done some really neat things at the secondary level and we have had a positive experience."
This month, Myers will officially begin his after-school improv classes for the academic year at Fox, Riverside, Pinetree, Heritage Woods and Dr. Charles Best secondaries.
He has developed a curriculum for the two-hour sessions built on last year's popular Improv Warehouse. In that after-school program, which culminated in a sold-out performance at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam, 30 students were coached by Second Storey mentors, with the aim to lay a foundation in improv and theatre as well as to establish a group dynamic where everybody was respected and respectful.
They also learned better listening, attention and storytelling skills. "If I had this when I was growing up, I would have been a lot better off," said Myers, a graduate of PoCo high school.
Myers said the improv program will be especially beneficial for students who don't play sports or want to do more academics after school.
The students who will be most interested are those who are already registered in a school acting class "and think it's going to be an easy 'A.' They're the quirky and awkward kids who don't tend to fit in. They are creative and smart and they need to develop some confidence to succeed in life."
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