Open Forum

 View Only
Back to discussions
Expand all | Collapse all

Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

  • 1.  Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-19-2015 10:06

    Hello all!

     

    I am holding an induction ceremony this week for my students, but would also like to induct 2 adults as honorary members.  I know this has been done in the past but need some tips on how to go about doing this? Thanks! 

    ------------------------------
    Kala Cookendorfer
    Speech and Drama Teacher
    Morehead KY
    ------------------------------



  • 2.  RE: Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-19-2015 11:51

    I don't have an answer, but would love it if folks would include the sort of reasons/people that have been inducted; what did they do to earn honorary Thespian adult induction? I have designs on a couple of folks that have been real helps to us this past year, and want to see what the standard is!

    ------------------------------
    Phillip Goodchild
    Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
    Hillsborough County Schools
    Ruskin FL
    ------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 3.  RE:Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-19-2015 14:04
    An honorary thespian for our troupe is usually someone who has gone above and beyond for years in dedication to our troupe. These people are usually parents who have volunteered for drama events consistently throughout their child's time in high school, community members that have consistently given their unpaid time to our drama program, even teachers (we've honored our choir director, band director, and activities director) who have gone above and beyond their requirements in order to assist the drama program.

    -------------------------------------------
    Cecilia Mitchell
    Iowa Thespian Student Chapter Board
    Grinnell, IA
    -------------------------------------------



    Sent via Higher Logic Mobile



    Original Message


  • 4.  RE:Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-19-2015 13:47
    Hello! My troupe inducts two honorary thespians per year. After the new inductees (the high school ones, that is), we have an officer read a blurb about each honorary inductee and why they are being honored, and then each honorary inductee individually receives a certificate and a carnation, signs the charter, and lights a candle to signify membership. Following this, we have the new inductees, honorary inductees, and standing troupe members all recite the thespian pledge together. The honorary thespians are essentially treated as new inductees, just with individual attention. Hope this helps!

    -------------------------------------------
    Cecilia Mitchell
    Iowa Thespian Student Chapter Board
    Grinnell, IA
    -------------------------------------------



    Sent via Higher Logic Mobile



    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-19-2015 16:58

    I've inducted a few over the years. I have a separate section in my induction night to recognize adults. Whether they are new sponsors or honorary thespians, we recognize their contributions to our club. They are each given an individual round of applause by everyone in recognition. Hope this helps.

    ------------------------------
    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
    ------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-20-2015 07:55

    That is a lovely gesture! 

    ------------------------------
    Kala Cookendorfer
    Speech and Drama Teacher
    Morehead KY
    ------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 7.  RE:Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-20-2015 11:51
    Love this idea. We select Honorary Thespians based on their contributions. Sometimes we have no one "extra" to induct and some years we've had several. They, too, are announced, do the candle lighting, receive a pin, sign the roster, recite the pledge, etc. They really appreciate the recognition.

    -------------------------------------------
    Jo Lane
    Theatre Teacher and Director
    Portland Public Schools
    Portland OR
    -------------------------------------------



    Sent via Higher Logic Mobile



    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-20-2015 06:47

    Our troupe has inducted a number of Honorary Thespian Members. It is quite a varied list. The students take this step very seriously: the Thespian officers have long discussions about it before even deciding whether or not to induct an honorary Thespian.

    Our troupe bestows an honorary Thespian membership on an adult who has gone "above and beyond" the expected service to the troupe and theatre education at this school typically over a number of years.

    Past honorees have included a parent volunteer who logged many hours building and painting our scenery long after her kids were graduated, another is a long-time parent volunteer who served as booster organization treasurer for many years, another is a long-time volunteer who has done many things for students over many years including mentoring them as stage managers and helping them prepare portfolios for college as well as chaperoning many many Thespian conferences, and another teacher at our school who is our biggest supporter and often participates in cross-curricular activities with her students and our shows. There are many others.

    Once year they bestowed this honor on me as my HS did not have a troupe and my students thought I should be a Thespian, too.

    Feel free to ask me for more information if you think it would help. 


    ------------------------------
    Mark A Zimmerman
    Theatre Director
    Akron School for the Arts
    Akron Public Schools
    ------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-21-2015 07:49

    Thank you all for the wonderful ideas! We had our induction yesterday and the kids were so excited and the adults were surprised and appreciated the recognition! We inducted 8 students and 2 adults! YAY! 

    ------------------------------
    Kala Cookendorfer
    Speech and Drama Teacher
    Morehead KY
    ------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-21-2015 08:36

    I've enjoyed this conversation SO much. It's wonderful that so many of you go through the extra effort to recognize the adults who really give of themselves for the good of the program. I think it's terrific that so many of you have the adults sign your roster. Thank you all. The honor you bestow on those folks is a part of what ITS is all about.

    Does anyone list or mention their honorary thespians in their show program or publicly thank them before a show?

    Because of this conversation, yesterday a couple of us talked about coming up with an induction pin just for honorary thespians. We induct more than 400 honorary thespians a year and for them to be presented with their own induction pin (and personalized certificate perhaps?) might make the honor that much more memorable for them. I think we can get something with a style similar to the junior induction pins we offer so they'd probably cost $6. I'd love to hear thoughts on this.


    ------------------------------
    David LaFleche
    Director Of Membership
    Educational Theatre Association
    Cincinnati OH
    ------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-21-2015 11:53

    An individual Honorary Thespian pin would be really grand! I'd be for it. Next year I hope I will be recognizing a few adult volunteers, based on this discussion and on the growing contributions of our parents and other adults working with our program.

    Thank you for considering the idea of a separate pin, I think that'd be a great personal honor for our adult Thespians!

    ------------------------------
    Phillip Goodchild
    Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
    Hillsborough County Schools
    Ruskin FL
    ------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Thespian Induction for Honorary Adults

    Posted 05-21-2015 11:01

    Our  Honorary Thespian inductees have included:

    -- one of our theatre teachers, who somehow had never been inducted into ITS in high school

    -- one of our English teachers, who directed a full-length Shakespeare play annually until her retirement

    -- two of our past Drama Booster presidents who continued to provide major volunteer assistance (and, in one case, financial assistance) long after their children had graduated from our school

    -- our Drama Boosters' treasurer, who has no child in our program, and who is a pillar of this area's community theatres

    -- one of our administrators who consistently through his tenure provided over-and-above-the-call-of-duty support to our program

    -- a personal theatre friend with no other connection to the school who chaperoned troupe trips, led workshops (free of charge) both for our troupe and for our state Thespian festival, and co-authored several original plays for our troupe

    -- our long-time music director, who is not a school employee and has no children in our program

    -- a parent who choreographed several of our musicals after an acting career that had included everything from dinner theatre to Broadway

    We invite these honorary inductees to our end-of-year dinner/party/induction.  We single them out for their contributions to our troupe and to theatre in general, and we line them up along with our new student inductees to receive their membership certificates and to repeat the Thespian Pledge.  Virtually every one of these people told us that they considered this to be a tremendous honor.

    ------------------------------
    Jeff Grove
    Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
    Stanton College Preparatory School
    Jacksonville FL