KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Danny Hess, 24, of Jersey Shore, a graduate of Liberty University with a degree in strategic communications, attended the St. John’s School of the Arts at 1157 Market St. and has returned to expand its outreach, making sure more people who might want to send their children to the school know what it offers.

A former St. John’s School of the Arts alum has returned to be the marketing director of the school in the City of Williamsport that focuses curriculum on the fine and performing arts, guided by the love of Christ.

Danny Hess, 24, of Jersey Shore, a graduate of Liberty University with a degree in strategic communications, attended the St. John’s School of the Arts at 1157 Market St. and has returned to expand its outreach, making sure more people who might want to send their children to the school know what it offers.

The school, which is known for its performance of The Nutcracker on stage at the Community Arts Center, a visual and audible treat for those about to celebrate Christmas and the holidays, is consistently focused on teaching music, dance and the performing arts.

Hess’s involvement as a student and now its marketing director is expected to expand the school’s outreach in the city and Greater Williamsport.

“Yeah, so I have five sisters and I grew up the only boy in the family,” Hess said of his early years and how he began immediately to love the art of dance.

“We were homeschooled,” he said. “I think my older sister was interested in dance, and we stumbled upon St John’s School of the Arts and she started taking lessons.”

His involvement

“One of the cool things that St John’s does is, when you’re graduating from high school, the dance teacher will choreograph a senior dance for you, and you get to pick the music and the people you want in it,” Hess said.

“When my oldest sister (Sarah) was graduating she got to pick her senior dance,” he said. “She was like, ‘I’d love it if you were, you know, in it,'” Hess said.

Hess admitted he was not too sure but then agreed.

“Okay,” he said, “I’ll be in your senior dance.”

Hess was about 10 years of age at the time.

“I fell in love with it, and I didn’t really stop after that,” he said.

“I think just what made me fall in love with it was the relationships that I built there … friendships that I know I’m going to have for the rest of my life.”

And Hess has taken that love of the school further.

He’s now combined it with other skill sets, such as his communications and marketing abilities.

His family’s ties to the community only help tighten that bond.

“So my family has had a sense of just helping other people and just a strong sense of community,” he said. “My dad (Alan) has helped at summer camps before, teaching kids and stuff. I’ve been around nonprofits a lot, and I’m really passionate about the work that they do in general,” he said.

“I think I got that from my family because most of us have pretty big hearts,” he added.

By seeing that model of his family members that cared about their community growing up, of his sisters involved in the school, he was certain that was the direction he would take after graduating from high school.

“I tried a couple different majors, and then I settled on marketing,” he said.

Goals for reaching the public

“I think the main objective is just to make the community aware that we are out there and doing the work that we’re doing,” Hess said.

Social media, obviously, has been a great place to spread the word, but the school also is establishing a presence on different platforms that include an email newsletter that will begin to circulate in March.

“We’ll send out our first newsletter, and that’ll be a recurring thing throughout the year, highlighting some of the stuff we’re doing, some of the things we have going on different shows, stuff like that,” he said.

Another marketing tool will be the school website.

Since he began his marketing position in the fall of 2024, one of the first items on his slate of do-to-lists was to upgrade the website.

“That was also a pretty big undertaking,” Hess acknowledged. “Now, it’s up and pretty functional.”

The school, he said to a question, has about 230 students (on average). “I think that is pretty close,” he said.

“We’re getting more and more people,” he said. “We got reorganized and started to really market ourselves.”

It’s been all positive and multi-generational experiences.

“My oldest sister graduated, went off to school, and now she moved back to the area, so she also takes her two kids to classes.”

Asked if being a former student and having family there will help him marketing the school, promoting its programs and making it more recognizable for potential students in the community, Hess nodded.

“I think that helps me to market it for sure because of my experience and everyone else’s experience, and just how special a place it is, and then being able to portray that,” he said.

“I can portray that well through our marketing channels.”

“I would say, the relationships that the students have with each other is a big thing, and also the student-teacher relationships as well are very prominent and important to what St John’s is building,” he said.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say they’ve had a hard day, but when they show up for a music lesson or dance class, like, it, you know, makes them feel a lot better, and like they’re with their friends and very close friends. And I would say that’s probably what sets us apart the most is just the relationships.”

The teachers there just love it when new people come in and they just get to share what we have with them, essentially, like they’re very welcoming to people,” Hess said.

“Maybe some of the graduates will go on and dance, or play an instrument, maybe as a hobby, or as a profession – but if not they can just really appreciate the relationships that they built by going there,” he said.