Happy Theatre in our Schools Month! So many reasons to celebrate!

1. We have our 2024 VTF dates & location for next year!

2. It is #TheatreinOurSchoolsMonth- celebrate with us!

3. It is Music in our Schools Month & Sing with Your Child Month

4. March 2nd: Read Across America day (read a play with us)!

5. March 3rd: #ArtsAcrossVA23 day! Post how you are involved in your arts programs!

6. March 4th: Dance the Waltz Day (dance with us)!

7. March 12th: Academy Awards & Daylight Savings- yay for longer days!

8. March 20-26th: Int'l Music Week- sing your favorite song!

9. March 21st: Kids see Broadway FREE day! Under 18? You could see one or two of 21 different shows for F-R-E-E! Consider taking a short trip to NYC!

10. March 22nd: National Sing Out Day- show us your audition video & a fav. performance!

11. March 27th: World Theatre Day- tag us and share a favorite moment!

12. March 31st: Dance Marathon Day: Dance AGAIN with us!

ALL MONTH- we want to celebrate programs SO tag us & follow up to celebrate with us!

Follow us on social media @vathespians or Virginia Thespians for more information and updates! We would love to know how to support you this year. Please complete our 2023 Troupe Director Survey and our 2023 Attendee Survey.

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST TROUPES & Professional Members!

We are so excited to have you join us! We at Virginia Thespians are happy you either joined for the first time, took over for a program, reinstated your troupe, or added new members! We are happy to support you and your school programs as best we can throughout the year. Consider joining us at VTF2024 in January!

We are so excited to announce next year already! Mark your calendars! Registration opens in September but start your planning now! Things to consider:

1. Do you want to bring a show? We are accepting mainstages NOW!

2. Do you want to come for one day or a full weekend? Only full weekend schools can compete now so consider fundraising, asking your administration for support, add this into your yearly calendars now to plan your season around it.

3. Will you need transportation? Reach out to nearby schools to consider sharing a bus to save on money and getting to know a nearby program.

We hope to see you there!

VTO stands for Virginia Thespian Officer.

The State Thespian Officers are made up of a small group of elected and appointed students (7-15) from around the state. They are open to Juniors/ Seniors ideally with prior leadership experience. They are elected at VTF via an application and interview process.

Email with any other questions stos@vathespian.org.

We will introduce your 2023-24 VTOS next month!

1. Need financial aid?

2. FAQ page

3. ITF schedule

4. ITF rules

5. ITF College Auditions

6. ITF Scholarships

7. Housing & Transportation

8. Wondering if you can attend? ANYONE CAN!

9. If you got a superior & are on our list, you are eligible to compete.

10. Break legs to Rock Ridge High School as our chapter select competing!

Come join teachers teaching teachers! Aug 7-9th we have a full docket of a lot to share. Sessions will be announced next month. See more information below and let us know if you are interested in teaching or attending!

Your Full Conference (FCON) registration includes:

-1 room stay on August 8th

-Daily happy hour with FREE drinks & appetizers

-Two FULL days of PD with multiple options per session

-Boxed lunches for both days from Apple Spice Catering

*You can opt for the Basic Conference (BCON) option if you are commuting, sharing a room to split the room costs with a teacher friend, or plan to stay elsewhere.

*Register here and complete this form.

*Add the item for an extra night stay if you plan to come for the optional welcome evening on August 7th.

All hotel rooms (reserved through us) & meeting spaces will be at Drury Plaza Hotel: 11049 W Broad St, Glen Allen, VA 23060

Looking to add more skills into your department? Tackle a new show or theatre discipline? We can connect you with artists! We bring in almost 100 artists with different disciplines each year. We also work with our partner, Creative Stages to bring master classes to YOU! Reach out to us or them for more information today! creativestagesdmv@gmail.com.

Did you hear we have a Virginia Thespians Alumni Facebook group? Consider passing this along to your graduating seniors. So far, it is an inspiring network of over 250 professionals, who can be valuable resources for your students beyond high school. These are previous Thespians who remember what it is like to be in their shoes and many of which are happy to serve as mentors. We are creating an alumni board to also fundraise resources for students going to festival, bring in more alumni guest artists, and more! If you are an alumni, consider joining it yourself! We have many more plans in store for the alumni to partner with us to support the current as well as future generations of Virginia Thespians! Join us today!

Taking a school trip soon? There's a new tour company called ImpACT Tours! Click on the PDF below to read more about them!

Here is an easy step-by-step checklist for spring inductions. Use these materials as you see fit!

1. Hold an interest meeting. Ask- Who is interested in becoming inducted into ITS?

2. Share out the point application for students to complete with their past and current theatrical experiences for certain point values.

3. Have students fill out the Member Google form, for the exact information you need to collect to put them into the official ITS/ EdTA system, and pay $35 for the one-time membership fee, which lasts them a lifetime. (More materials at the bottom of the newsletter to promote and explain ITS.)

4. Hold inductions. Here is a sample outline to use. You can create your own rituals, traditions, or if you are in a pinch, it can be less than 30 minutes before school starts or before a rehearsal for example.

5. Log into your myedta account to input all of your new inductees.

6. Pay the lump sum as the director, if your students didn't pay EdTA directly. Our suggestion is to collect the money as you typically do for school events, work with your bookkeeper or boosters to cut one check to EdTA to keep it simple.

7. Hold an end of year or semester celebration to hand out the new goodies when they are delivered to the school!

Don't have a troupe yet? Read more about the benefits and process here!

Here is a Google Slides PPT about Thespians to encourage students to join.

Here is a Festival Guide for students or new troupe directors.

Why join or have an ITS troupe? Share with students & administrators!