The International Thespian Society (ITS), founded in 1929, is an honorary organization for high school and middle school theatre students located at more than 4,900 affiliated secondary schools across America and abroad. The mission of ITS is to honor student achievement in the theatre arts. High school inductees are known as Thespians and junior high/middle school inductees are known as Junior Thespians. ITS is a division of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA).
The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) is a national nonprofit organization with more than 135,000 student and professional members. EdTA’s mission is shaping lives through theatre education by: honoring student achievement in theatre and enriching their theatre education experience; supporting teachers by providing professional development, networking opportunities, resources, and recognition; and influencing public opinion that theatre education is essential and builds life skills. EdTA operates the International Thespian Society (ITS), an honorary organization that has inducted more than 2.3 million theatre students since its founding in 1929. EdTA also publishes Dramatics, a bimonthly magazine for high school theatre students, and Teaching Theatre, a bimonthly journal for theatre education professionals.
If you are a student who earned 10 points (see Thespian Point Award System) you may be eligible to join ITS during the induction ceremony at the end of the year. Students who have earned various honors through rank (see Thespian Troupe Handbook) will be recognized at this same event. Seniors who have earned enough points will have the privilege of wearing ITS tassels at graduation.
Additionally, students will have the opportunity to complete workshops each fall at Plymouth State as well as compete in the New Hampshire Educational Theatre Guild’s (NHETG) Theatre Festival each spring.
Hollis Brookline is listed as Troupe 7874.
If you have any questions, please feel free to consult the Thespian Handbook or reach out to Ms. Ina Nakuci (ina.nakuci@sau41.org) for questions pertaining more specifically to HBHS.