NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Before anyone else believed a low-income elementary school in the Nashville suburb of Madison could become a place where kids stood proudly under stage lights, voices steady, lines memorized, costumes aglow, Austyn Taylor did.

Taylor, an integrated studies major with a focus in technical theatre and lighting at Middle Tennessee State University, wasn’t a teacher. He wasn’t even out of high school.

He was just 16 when he began this bold endeavor, and he continues his work as a college student.

And yet, over the next three years, this teenager from Pleasant View, Tennessee, would quietly cofound a theatre program inside a school where students regularly missed class for lack of transportation, where English was seldom the first language spoken at home.

Today, the Metro Nashville Public School is no longer just Amqui Elementary. It is Amqui Global Communications Magnet, a growing K-8 hub of culture, creativity, and global storytelling. The theatre program Taylor helped birth is now part of the school’s identity. And a lifeline for many of its kids.

A program that didn’t exist until he built it

Through its Disney Musicals in Schools initiative, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center offered Amqui the opportunity to launch a theatre program, providing materials, training, and support with choreography. But there was one thing the school didn’t have: someone who actually knew theater.

The music teacher, Alan Portillo, suddenly found himself responsible for a full musical production despite having never worked on a stage before. That’s when he reached out to Taylor. 

“He was like, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing,’” Taylor explained. Still in high school at the time, Taylor said yes, a simple response that turned into hundreds of hours of unpaid labor that reshaped the school’s culture. “I lived and breathed this program for a few months.”

Over the next three years, he helped build multiple productions, including “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast Jr.,” and this year’s “Into the Woods Jr.” This laid the foundation for a theatre program that continues to grow long after his first backstage steps.

“Mr. Portillo has absolutely bloomed into his role as a director over the last three years. He’s gained just as much confidence as the kids have. Our assistant director, Jennifer Figueredo, is a powerhouse. If we need anything, she’s already done it,” stated Taylor. “The rest of the staff are equally as incredible. The entire production wouldn’t be possible without the talents that each one of them brings.”

Taylor’s responsibilities were staggering for a teenager. He directed scenes, blocked movement for dozens of children, taught lines, and spent hours in one‑on‑one coaching sessions with ESL students who needed help not only pronouncing their dialogue but understanding the emotional meaning behind it. 

He purchased equipment, designed and organized costumes, served as the only technical expert in the room, and delegated tasks to adult staff members who relied on him to explain how the theater actually worked. He trained teachers, coordinated rehearsals, and managed production schedules with a professionalism far beyond his years. 

As he put it, “I was basically a consultant for a lot of our meetings… I was the only one on the team with any theatre experience.”

In those first years before any staff had been trained and the program had structure or stability, Taylor was the theatre department. His knowledge, labor, and belief in the students were the backbone of everything that took shape on that stage.

Transformation onstage and off 

The work was imperfect. There were funding gaps and transportation barriers.

“A lot of the kids don’t have reliable transportation, and sometimes the kids wouldn’t be able to participate,” he said, adding that there were attendance issues, too. “Rehearsals kind of served as an incentive for attendance. The program kind of served as motivation to keep the kids in school so they could participate.”

Taylor and staff helped raise enough money to take every student to see Broadway’s touring production of “Aladdin” at TPAC just weeks before they performed their own version.

He watched the shyest of ESL students transform into the character Belle. He saw kids who struggled academically become stronger readers, better communicators, and more confident speakers. 

Taylor heard from teachers that students were coming to school more consistently because rehearsal was the reward. He saw children whose families spoke Spanish or Arabic step onto a stage speaking English with pride.

“It makes me believe that the world can be good,” he beamed.

A school transformed

Taylor didn’t expect the program to change him, but it did. His time at Amqui gave him renewed hope and purpose. 

“I believe in the next generation,” he said. “They’re showing me great things on the daily.” 

That experience now fuels his professional path at MTSU, where he studies theatre while serving as treasurer of the recording industry fraternity Omega Delta Psi, designing lighting for student-run concerts, working as an audiovisual technician, mentoring new technicians, and freelancing as a lighting designer. His ambitions point him toward Chicago, where he hopes to build a career in theatrical or live‑music lighting.

Still, the pull of the classroom remains strong. “I think I’m going to go back to school and become a theatre teacher… I love working with kids,” he said, already imagining the next generation of young performers he hopes to inspire.

Ask Taylor who taught him to be this way, and his answer is immediate. “My mom is the most incredible person I’ve ever known in my life. She is my number one supporter.”

Kristen Taylor, Austyn’s mother, works in Amqui’s front office as the attendance secretary and helps with the theatre program. 

“Having her as a role model is the reason I’ve been able to push myself so much and give so much to my community,” Taylor said.

For those interested in sponsoring Amqui’s upcoming production, “Into the Woods Jr.,” which takes the stage in May, contact Alan Portillo at ayportillomolina@mnps.org. 

— Robin E. Lee (Robin.E.Lee@mtsu.edu)