LHS Thespians

LHS Thespians is an Educational Theatre Association Honor Society for Theatre Students. Thespians provides community to theatre students at Lawrence High School, encourages appreciation of all types of theatre and works to create community outreach and alturism.

Determining Thespian Induction Eligibility

Mandatory school and student eligibility requirements are defined in the EdTA membership policy. Schools and students must meet all of these plus those listed below for inductions to be granted.

ITS provides a Thespian point system to help determine induction eligibility along with Thespian point record sheets and a Thespian Induction Point System (TIPS) tool to help track each student’s points. Only the troupe director may award points. The troupe secretary is often responsible for maintaining point records and making them available for each student’s personal review. Point records are kept at the troupe level. They are not sent to the National Office.

Troupe directors are to notify students that records of their activities will be maintained and that honor society induction will be available when all criteria have been met. All induction requirements must be in writing and provided to all students involved in the school’s theatre program.

Induction Criteria.

Grade at time of induction. Only students in grades nine through 12 (or the international equivalent) may be inducted into the high school Thespian troupe. Students in grades six through eight must be inducted into a Junior Thespian troupe. We recommend that programs that serve students in both grade ranges charter a high school troupe and a Junior Thespian troupe.

School enrollment. If a student receives primary academic coursework from a school with an active troupe, he or she may only be inducted into and receive benefits through that troupe. Troupes may induct students who attend other schools only when those schools do not have their own active troupes. See Appendix 3: Guidelines for determining student troupe affiliation below.

Thespian points. The high school Thespian point system provides the recommended number of points awarded for a specific assignment. Troupe directors may use their discretion in awarding points according to the student’s quality of work and cooperation. Quality may include the caliber of the work done and the educational value of the experience. The troupe director makes the final decision regarding the awarding of Thespian points. The point system and TIPS tool are available here.

Troupes may adopt changes to the point system to meet the unique needs of their theatre programs and students. Approved changes must be documented in the troupe constitution and shared with all theatre students.

Benefits of Thespian Induction

• Membership in the only international honor society for high school theatre arts students—a recognized demonstration of achievement and a valuable addition to college and employment applications.

• An official Thespian induction pin.

• A personalized membership certificate and membership card.

• Log-in access to his or her member dashboard page and a variety of online benefits.

• A one-year, bimonthly subscription to the print edition of Dramatics magazine (a $38 value). The first issue arrives within six to eight weeks. They may also renew at a special member rate.

• Log-in access to Dramatics Digital from induction through the year following graduation.

• A bumper sticker that reads: Proud parent of a theatre arts honor student.

• Special member pricing on theatre books and digital media through the online EdTA store.

• Thespian-level access to the Theatre Education Community.

• Leadership opportunities at the troupe, chapter, and national levels.

• Eligibility for scholarships, grants, and awards through EdTA and its chapters. See schooltheatre.org/ags.

• Eligibility to audition at the International Thespian Festival for admission to college theatre programs, submit original compositions to the Thespian Next Generation Works program, audition for chapter Individual Events programs, and qualify for the National Individual Events Showcase (NIES). See schooltheatre.org/festival.

• Eligibility to receive additional Thespian honors, including graduation and honor items, advancement through Thespian honor ranks, and Thespian scholar distinction. See Recognizing exceptional Thespian achievement below.