As I drove to the airport on Friday, February 17, I was buzzing with excited energy because I was about to see my 5 best friends in a few short hours!!!! It had been almost 5 long months since we had all been together, and I was ready to crush them all in a big group hug (which happened and was glorious). We hopped in the rental van and headed to the home office to begin our first set of meetings.
After productive meetings with each of the departments from the home office, we headed to our hotel to drop our bags and then went off to explore Cincinnati.
We stopped at our (now) group favorite ice cream spot, Graeters, and had our dessert first. Then we stopped in front of a very artsy fountain (pictured) before making our way to dinner.
That night, the ITO, the Staff, and the EdTA Board had an amazing dinner filled with great conversation. We returned to our hotel to prepare for the next morning’s board presentation.
The morning started bright and early as we made our way to the meeting room for our presentation to the EdTA Board about our ITO initiatives and travel experiences. Afterward, we were able to teach a leadership workshop to a local troupe and then film our ITO application video (which you should definitely check out when it’s released). We had a very busy day, but we were able to make great strides with our work!
On Sunday morning, our alarms went off at 9 am (bless!) and we rode down to the home office to meet with our amazing mentor, Mrs. Diane Carr. We spent the day in meetings with her and were able to head to Skyline to try authentic Cincinnati chili during our lunch hour. What a treat! Later in the day, we came up with our themes and outlines for our leadership workshops that we will present at Festival. We can’t wait for you to be able to see them!
In the blink of an eye, we were already spending our last day together. We met with the wonderful Mrs. Julie Cohen-Theobald and discussed our travels over true Cincinnati pizza. We also filmed a video to welcome video to the new student leadership program in our China Chapter.
We said our goodbyes the next morning, but it won’t be long until our next reunion. Arts Advocacy Day in March allows us to reunite in the beautiful city of Washington D.C. Stay connected with us by following our social media (@internationalthespianofficers on Instagram, @ITOOfficial on Snapchat, The International Thespian Officers on Facebook, and @ITOMacKenzieS on Twitter). See y’all in Lincoln!
