I spent my President's Day Weekend back on the ITO road with 500 energetic Minnesota Thespians, and had the privilege to listen to their stories.
This year's theme of their conference was "What's yOUR Story" and focused on the individual experiences a thespian brings to the table.
Day 1 kicked off at Chaska High School as the 18 STO welcomed the students to their conference. Following opening announcements the conference broke up into mixer groups. This is a cool idea for smaller sized conferences, the premise is as follows: each STO to led a group to host icebreakers and help different schools mingle with one another. The mixer groups also met up for dinner later that night, and ended the conference on the last day together.
Immediately following the mixer groups the conference began with workshops and one acts. The STO also ran a duck fundraiser benefitting their state's All-State Show fund. It was enjoyable to see the multitude of duck pairs the STO came up with, and the joy students had when they found their partner! I spent most of my morning/afternoon running music for IE's and networking with fellow students to explain all of EdTA's scholarships and programs.
SIDE NOTE: Most scholarships are due by April 1,
apply today!
Another cool feature of MN festival was their Minnesota Thespian Originals production.
Minnesota Thespian Originals (MTO) is a collection of short pieces written, directed, acted, and teched by students, with students, for students. It is loosely based on the Thespian Playworks experience offered at the International Thespian Festival. I was amazed by the talent of these students' work!
Day 2 of the conference was held at the Guthrie Theatre, and boy is that building breathtaking! The opening ceremonies of Day 2 involved keynotes from professional actors at the Guthrie who challenged students to be bold and unafraid. I taught my leadership workshop to 15 energetic leaders and lead 2 engaging theatre directors in NAPS.
Overall, my EdTA rep Jennifer Forrest-James and I were warmly welcomed by the Minnesota State Board and had a terrific weekend helping with their event.
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