Happy summer/ fall to many of you! We will see several of you this weekend for TEI! It is not too late to register with us! We have 1 room left in our room block!

See our early bird form below to let us know you plan to attend VTF, pay a deposit for your teacher/ troupe director registration, and get early access/ perks! It is due 9/13 with the deposit due via Quickbooks by 9/16! Happy Fall to all and we look forward to our 55th season with you!

Check our social media accounts for EdTA, our parent organization or for VA Thespians for recent reminders and updates. Get more resources, learn more about International Thespian Society, and more! Read this "How To" short document for festival registration. The rest of this newsletter repeats from last month. It is here again for convenience and as a reminder. We do have an update on the VA mandates/protocols. Please read below.

Email: executivedirector@vathespian.org
Website: https://www.vathespian.org/mission.html
Location: Winchester, VA, USA
Phone: 703-554-3416
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaThespians
Twitter: @thespians1

Use the most up-to-date logos , colors, fonts, etc. for a refresh and to get your branding up to speed with our new logos. Break a leg on fall auditions, productions, one act competitions, ITS inductions, first quarters, and more. Let us know how we can help support you this year!

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 300 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!

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 (your own copy) for students to complete with their past and current theatrical experiences for certain point values.

3. Have students fill out the Member Google form, (your own copy) 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! Here is the Thespian store for graduation regalia. If you are trying to save money, cords can be found on Amazon too.

Don't have a troupe yet? Read more about the benefits and process here! You do not need a minimum number of students now to activate/ reactivate your troupe. Get started today! Other resources on inductions from EdTA. Want a 2nd troupe director or someone to go in your place to Thespian events? Consider an Associate Troupe Director!

*Hold fall inductions, so your students get inducted, so they get the discounts for all events and, so they can qualify to move onto nationals with their Thespys. Deadline to be inducted is around 4/15 to qualify for ITF.

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

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