It certainly felt almost like heaven at the hero-themed West Virginia Thespian Festival!! I attended the conference as an EdTA representative, along with the fabulous Nevada Chapter Director, Sharon Chadwick, almost a month ago in April, and was absolutely thrilled to have attended. We arrived in the beautiful Charleston late on a Wednesday and drove into Elkins the next morning, staying on the gorgeous campus of Davis and Elkins College, where the festival was held. I was immediately welcomed by the group of the State Thespian Officers with warm, open arms, and given some initial directions around the campus. That morning, the West Virginia Thespians held their Minute-To-Give-It Fundraiser, and raised $555.00 in only 60 seconds!! During the day, I taught an excited group of Thespians during my leadership workshop, who even taught me a few things about how to bold, brave, and unafraid (enough to do “The Whip” dance move on the ITO Snapchat story, @ITOOfficial)!
Throughout the festival, workshops about makeup design, stage combat, and screenplay went on while IEs and one-acts all competed for selection to go to the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln. One very lucky school was given a grant of $10,000 to go to Nebraska with their one-act! The talent in West Virginia was absolutely incredible, and I met some colorful characters and fun students.
While I was in West Virginia, I taught two rounds of my leadership workshop (“Be Bold, Be Brave, Be Unafraid”) and one N.A.P.S. workshop (National Advocacy, Plain and Simple.) I definitely saw some budding arts advocates in the Davis and Elkins College classrooms, and look forward to seeing all of them continue representing Thespians as alumni later on in life. They jumped at the chance to do anything, whether it was passing out pens or giving elevator speeches, and I had the great pleasure of teaching some of my favorite workshop participants yet!
The three days I was in West Virginia were some of my favorite
days of state festivals all year. Thank you so much to West Virginia
Chapter Director Martha Louden, to whom I am very grateful for all of her
kindness, support, and assistance throughout the Festival! A huge thank
you to all of the West Virginia Thespians for taking me in during those three
crazy days, I hope to see you all again at ITF! Make sure to stay tuned
in with the ITO for updates as we approach Lincoln on our social media pages
(Facebook: The International Thespian Officers; Instagram: internationalthespianofficers;
Twitter: @ITOViceChair.)