Open Forum

Hello, 
I am very new to this and trying to induct my first group.  I've already signed up 6 but I have about 6 more to do.  I'm trying to get their points right, since I'm going back 4 years for some of them as we only joined back up this year. So, my question is, Do you give points to ALL STUDENTS who are in the regional one act festivals?  Do you give all participants 3 whole points or do you give some who worked less just 1 or 2 points?  I want the induction to be an honor and I have a few who are lingering around 10 points, but truly do not deserve the honor yet.  I'm looking back at how I have awarded points and seeing if I'm giving too many.  I just found out a nearby director only gives a max of 8 points per show for one "role" in each production.  My school currently only puts on two shows per year and our troupe (and group) are small. The students often take on multiple roles, some act and do crew or act and do make up for half the cast.  What do others do in this situation?  

Also, Who do I give cords, stoles and other graduations things to?  I have two seniors that I will be leaving us this year and I'd like to make sure I do it right for them.  One of them has over 60 points, the other almost 40.  I believe they are both high honor students also.  When do I check their gpa?  So so so many questions.  Thank you for anything that you give. I am perusing the boards also.  

------------------------------
Catherine Leavitt
VPA Department Head, Art & Theatre Teacher
Waterboro ME
------------------------------

Catherine,
Please give me a call - 817-991-3928 and let's chat! I can tell you what we do - other troupes may do it differently.
Text first!

~Darla

Hi,

I give points for our three days State Festival (coming up in four days!) upon completion of a Festival Accountability doc. It's an easy item to fill out, makes them pay attention during the weekend, and gives me a good idea of their festival experience. Attaching it here.

------------------------------
Krista Carson Elhai
CA Educational Theatre Association, Past President
Theatre Director
Claremont HS
An International Baccalaureate World School
Claremont CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2019 19:02
From: Catherine Leavitt
Subject: Awarding Points for Festivals and more

Hello,
I am very new to this and trying to induct my first group.  I've already signed up 6 but I have about 6 more to do.  I'm trying to get their points right, since I'm going back 4 years for some of them as we only joined back up this year. So, my question is, Do you give points to ALL STUDENTS who are in the regional one act festivals?  Do you give all participants 3 whole points or do you give some who worked less just 1 or 2 points?  I want the induction to be an honor and I have a few who are lingering around 10 points, but truly do not deserve the honor yet.  I'm looking back at how I have awarded points and seeing if I'm giving too many.  I just found out a nearby director only gives a max of 8 points per show for one "role" in each production.  My school currently only puts on two shows per year and our troupe (and group) are small. The students often take on multiple roles, some act and do crew or act and do make up for half the cast.  What do others do in this situation?

Also, Who do I give cords, stoles and other graduations things to?  I have two seniors that I will be leaving us this year and I'd like to make sure I do it right for them.  One of them has over 60 points, the other almost 40.  I believe they are both high honor students also.  When do I check their gpa?  So so so many questions.  Thank you for anything that you give. I am perusing the boards also.  

------------------------------
Catherine Leavitt
VPA Department Head, Art & Theatre Teacher
Waterboro ME
------------------------------

GREAT questions. And THANK YOU for your desire to honor your students and to "do it right." Please feel free to call us anytime 513-421-3900. Anyone in the service center who answers will be happy to talk with you and answer all of your questions. You can always ask for me as well and I'd be glad to help. 

The troupe handbook has all of the information about points, honor ranks, scholar distinctions, etc. but here are some quick details for you.

Most Troupe Directors give the highest value of points for a particular role in a show but not points for every roll in the show. Of course you can use the "1 point for every 10 hours of excellent work" guideline as well.

We have a variety of cords, stoles, and medallions so that each Troupe Director may use them in the way that best suits their program, school, and budget. We offer pins for each honor rank, troupe officer position, and scholar distinction for the same reason. You each may do what works best for you. 

Honor cords and the equivalent pins are for students attaining the 60, 120, and 180 point levels for those honors. 

Scholar items are for the matching 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 cumulative GPA's as of the end of 10th grade or any grading period after that.

Unless you're using a MAC computer, you may want to download a copy of the Thespian Induction Point System tool from our website. There is a tutorial that'll help get you started. Keeping up with points is a great job for the Troupe Secretary. That way the Troupe Director only has to confirm them and submit the inductees.

Thank you ALL for what you do and how much you give to your students.

David

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

Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2019 19:02
From: Catherine Leavitt
Subject: Awarding Points for Festivals and more

Hello,
I am very new to this and trying to induct my first group.  I've already signed up 6 but I have about 6 more to do.  I'm trying to get their points right, since I'm going back 4 years for some of them as we only joined back up this year. So, my question is, Do you give points to ALL STUDENTS who are in the regional one act festivals?  Do you give all participants 3 whole points or do you give some who worked less just 1 or 2 points?  I want the induction to be an honor and I have a few who are lingering around 10 points, but truly do not deserve the honor yet.  I'm looking back at how I have awarded points and seeing if I'm giving too many.  I just found out a nearby director only gives a max of 8 points per show for one "role" in each production.  My school currently only puts on two shows per year and our troupe (and group) are small. The students often take on multiple roles, some act and do crew or act and do make up for half the cast.  What do others do in this situation?

Also, Who do I give cords, stoles and other graduations things to?  I have two seniors that I will be leaving us this year and I'd like to make sure I do it right for them.  One of them has over 60 points, the other almost 40.  I believe they are both high honor students also.  When do I check their gpa?  So so so many questions.  Thank you for anything that you give. I am perusing the boards also.  

------------------------------
Catherine Leavitt
VPA Department Head, Art & Theatre Teacher
Waterboro ME
------------------------------

Thank you so much!  I will make some rules for myself as to how to use the pins and other honor ware for my school program.  I'm getting a good handle on the points I think.

------------------------------
Catherine Leavitt
VPA Department Head, Art & Theatre Teacher
Waterboro ME
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-25-2019 11:01
From: David LaFleche
Subject: Awarding Points for Festivals and more

GREAT questions. And THANK YOU for your desire to honor your students and to "do it right." Please feel free to call us anytime 513-421-3900. Anyone in the service center who answers will be happy to talk with you and answer all of your questions. You can always ask for me as well and I'd be glad to help.

The troupe handbook has all of the information about points, honor ranks, scholar distinctions, etc. but here are some quick details for you.

Most Troupe Directors give the highest value of points for a particular role in a show but not points for every roll in the show. Of course you can use the "1 point for every 10 hours of excellent work" guideline as well.

We have a variety of cords, stoles, and medallions so that each Troupe Director may use them in the way that best suits their program, school, and budget. We offer pins for each honor rank, troupe officer position, and scholar distinction for the same reason. You each may do what works best for you.

Honor cords and the equivalent pins are for students attaining the 60, 120, and 180 point levels for those honors.

Scholar items are for the matching 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 cumulative GPA's as of the end of 10th grade or any grading period after that.

Unless you're using a MAC computer, you may want to download a copy of the Thespian Induction Point System tool from our website. There is a tutorial that'll help get you started. Keeping up with points is a great job for the Troupe Secretary. That way the Troupe Director only has to confirm them and submit the inductees.

Thank you ALL for what you do and how much you give to your students.

David

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

Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2019 19:02
From: Catherine Leavitt
Subject: Awarding Points for Festivals and more

Hello,
I am very new to this and trying to induct my first group.  I've already signed up 6 but I have about 6 more to do.  I'm trying to get their points right, since I'm going back 4 years for some of them as we only joined back up this year. So, my question is, Do you give points to ALL STUDENTS who are in the regional one act festivals?  Do you give all participants 3 whole points or do you give some who worked less just 1 or 2 points?  I want the induction to be an honor and I have a few who are lingering around 10 points, but truly do not deserve the honor yet.  I'm looking back at how I have awarded points and seeing if I'm giving too many.  I just found out a nearby director only gives a max of 8 points per show for one "role" in each production.  My school currently only puts on two shows per year and our troupe (and group) are small. The students often take on multiple roles, some act and do crew or act and do make up for half the cast.  What do others do in this situation?

Also, Who do I give cords, stoles and other graduations things to?  I have two seniors that I will be leaving us this year and I'd like to make sure I do it right for them.  One of them has over 60 points, the other almost 40.  I believe they are both high honor students also.  When do I check their gpa?  So so so many questions.  Thank you for anything that you give. I am perusing the boards also.  

------------------------------
Catherine Leavitt
VPA Department Head, Art & Theatre Teacher
Waterboro ME
------------------------------

The basic rule of thumb is 1 point for 10 hours of quality work.  The reason the point schedule suggests UP TO 8 points for a leading role is because of the amount of time spent learning lines and working on the role in addition to the rehearsal time.  When a show is more ensemble, I don't award any student that many points.

I don't give any points to students for simply bringing their body to a festival.  If they do an Individual Event, I give 2 points.  If they write short, thoughtful critiques of the one-act plays they saw and what they learned from workshops, I will give them a point or two for that.  Again, I estimate the number of hours involved and time writing.   

I can't find the point system on the schooltheatre.org anymore, just the TIPS.  I need the whole point schedule to wrap my head around what I should award, so I am uploading it here for you, just in case you are in the same boat.  

No additional points for GPA.  All points are for theatre-related work.  

We give cords to each Thespian in good standing to wear during graduation.  They can choose to wear the cords and give them back to me as they pick up their diplomas, or they can buy the cords.

------------------------------
C. J. Breland
Asheville High School
Asheville NC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2019 19:02
From: Catherine Leavitt
Subject: Awarding Points for Festivals and more

Hello,
I am very new to this and trying to induct my first group.  I've already signed up 6 but I have about 6 more to do.  I'm trying to get their points right, since I'm going back 4 years for some of them as we only joined back up this year. So, my question is, Do you give points to ALL STUDENTS who are in the regional one act festivals?  Do you give all participants 3 whole points or do you give some who worked less just 1 or 2 points?  I want the induction to be an honor and I have a few who are lingering around 10 points, but truly do not deserve the honor yet.  I'm looking back at how I have awarded points and seeing if I'm giving too many.  I just found out a nearby director only gives a max of 8 points per show for one "role" in each production.  My school currently only puts on two shows per year and our troupe (and group) are small. The students often take on multiple roles, some act and do crew or act and do make up for half the cast.  What do others do in this situation?

Also, Who do I give cords, stoles and other graduations things to?  I have two seniors that I will be leaving us this year and I'd like to make sure I do it right for them.  One of them has over 60 points, the other almost 40.  I believe they are both high honor students also.  When do I check their gpa?  So so so many questions.  Thank you for anything that you give. I am perusing the boards also.  

------------------------------
Catherine Leavitt
VPA Department Head, Art & Theatre Teacher
Waterboro ME
------------------------------

Hello Catherine,

I am new as well and found myself struggling with the same issues. The nice thing about this organization is that they give solid guidelines but still leave the final decision up to the individual troupe. I believe being consistent is the key here. As mentioned in another post, if I find myself questioning the point system I fall back to the 1 pt for every 10 hours. I am also at a small school and find myself having to give students multiple roles. One poor kid had 4 minor roles in our most recent production of Peter Pan and Wendy. I looked back on the practice schedule and realized that taking on the additional role really did not add any extra time to their rehearsal schedule. It did add some additional time to learning lines so I decided to give max points to their highest scoring role and 1 additional point (10 hrs memorizing lines and blocking) to each "extra" role. Again, that is your decision. 

Hope that helps.

Matthew Phipps
Troupe 8353

------------------------------
Matthew Phipps
Director
Wright WY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-21-2019 19:02
From: Catherine Leavitt
Subject: Awarding Points for Festivals and more

Hello,
I am very new to this and trying to induct my first group.  I've already signed up 6 but I have about 6 more to do.  I'm trying to get their points right, since I'm going back 4 years for some of them as we only joined back up this year. So, my question is, Do you give points to ALL STUDENTS who are in the regional one act festivals?  Do you give all participants 3 whole points or do you give some who worked less just 1 or 2 points?  I want the induction to be an honor and I have a few who are lingering around 10 points, but truly do not deserve the honor yet.  I'm looking back at how I have awarded points and seeing if I'm giving too many.  I just found out a nearby director only gives a max of 8 points per show for one "role" in each production.  My school currently only puts on two shows per year and our troupe (and group) are small. The students often take on multiple roles, some act and do crew or act and do make up for half the cast.  What do others do in this situation?

Also, Who do I give cords, stoles and other graduations things to?  I have two seniors that I will be leaving us this year and I'd like to make sure I do it right for them.  One of them has over 60 points, the other almost 40.  I believe they are both high honor students also.  When do I check their gpa?  So so so many questions.  Thank you for anything that you give. I am perusing the boards also.  

------------------------------
Catherine Leavitt
VPA Department Head, Art & Theatre Teacher
Waterboro ME
------------------------------
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