Open Forum

The answer may depend on your school or your school district's rules.

In my district, what you're proposing would not be allowed.  Some years ago, one of the plays in our annual night of student-written one-acts was co-authored by a student at my school and a friend of his who was a student at another school in the district.  It didn't occur to me that that might be an issue, but after the show was over, my then-principal spoke to me, having heard about the situation, and told me not to allow this again.  She said that by our district's policy the other student should be participating in extracurricular activities at his own school - never mind the fact that his school didn't offer students the opportunity to write plays and see them performed.

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Jeff Grove
Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
Stanton College Preparatory School
Jacksonville FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-17-2019 10:17
From: Erika Trahan
Subject: Adopting students from another school

Recently a parent whose child does community shows with a local organization has asked if our troupe would adopt her daughter. She will be a Freshman at another local high school that does not have a theatre program. 

I haven't spoken to the parent yet, but I believe the goal is for her to attend our state festival and possibly be eligible for scholarships etc when the time comes.

Have any of you done something like this??

What do i need to do? Can it be done?

--

Erika Trahan

Kaplan High School

Speech and Theatre

Original Message------

The answer may depend on your school or your school district's rules.

In my district, what you're proposing would not be allowed.  Some years ago, one of the plays in our annual night of student-written one-acts was co-authored by a student at my school and a friend of his who was a student at another school in the district.  It didn't occur to me that that might be an issue, but after the show was over, my then-principal spoke to me, having heard about the situation, and told me not to allow this again.  She said that by our district's policy the other student should be participating in extracurricular activities at his own school - never mind the fact that his school didn't offer students the opportunity to write plays and see them performed.

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

Hey Erika! 

Yes, it's allowed as long as that school doesn't have a troupe. You would induct them into your troupe and register them as part of your troupe at State. This is what the all girl and all boy schools in New Orleans do. If the student attends a school that doesn't have an official chartered troupe you can have them join your troupe. They will be eligible for all scholarships, IEs, etc.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

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KRISTI Jacobs-Stanley
New Orleans LA
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-20-2019 10:09
From: Erika Trahan
Subject: Adopting students from another school

thank you. That was not something I had considered. I will look into that. I know for sure she will not be allowed to participate in OUR productions. That would not be fair to MY students. Her thespian status would be from her community show participation. If I was going to allow her to be a member of our troupe it would be with total parent participation. (parent pays her dues, attends festival, etc.) 

--

Erika Trahan

Kaplan High School

Speech and Theatre

Original Message------

The answer may depend on your school or your school district's rules.

In my district, what you're proposing would not be allowed.  Some years ago, one of the plays in our annual night of student-written one-acts was co-authored by a student at my school and a friend of his who was a student at another school in the district.  It didn't occur to me that that might be an issue, but after the show was over, my then-principal spoke to me, having heard about the situation, and told me not to allow this again.  She said that by our district's policy the other student should be participating in extracurricular activities at his own school - never mind the fact that his school didn't offer students the opportunity to write plays and see them performed.

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

My district has similar policies as Jeff's. Another way to think about it is that, would it be fair to a current student who did not get a role or position when a student from another school did? I would imagine a student and parents might have an issue with this, even though it is well intended.

~Dave

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David Simpson
Performing Arts Center Manager
East China Schools
East China MI
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-17-2019 10:17
From: Erika Trahan
Subject: Adopting students from another school

Recently a parent whose child does community shows with a local organization has asked if our troupe would adopt her daughter. She will be a Freshman at another local high school that does not have a theatre program. 

I haven't spoken to the parent yet, but I believe the goal is for her to attend our state festival and possibly be eligible for scholarships etc when the time comes.

Have any of you done something like this??

What do i need to do? Can it be done?

--

Erika Trahan

Kaplan High School

Speech and Theatre

Hi, Erika

 

A fundamental question is what the relationship would be between the student and your school or troupe. If she's just looking for someone to take her to the state festival, it would be a question of school policy, chapter policy, and your personal preference. As others have noted, some schools have policies restricting the participation of outside students. It may be a basic issue of insurance coverage or risk management. Also, each chapter has different policies governing eligibility for registration, scholarships, IEs, etc. Some have few requirements; some require students to be affiliated with a member school; some require students to be officially inducted Thespians or Junior Thespians. Of course, all of this assumes that you choose to take responsibility for the student.

 

If the goal of the student/troupe relationship is affiliation or membership, there are ITS rules that cover that. Often troupe affiliation is the minimum requirement for participation in programs and events. In the troupe handbook's Appendix 3: Guidelines for determining student troupe affiliation, affiliation is defined as, "The student is actively participating in the troupe's program, i.e., a troupe member or actively earning points in the troupe." Other guidelines apply as well. If the student wouldn't be allowed to participate in your productions, she couldn't be officially affiliated with your troupe. However, if she were participating in your productions and didn't have a troupe at her school, she could be considered affiliated with your troupe at the discretion of you and your administration. Whether or not she would be allowed to participate in chapter events would still be determined by chapter policy.  

------------------------------
Brian Benz
Membership Manager
Educational Theatre Association
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-17-2019 10:17
From: Erika Trahan
Subject: Adopting students from another school

Recently a parent whose child does community shows with a local organization has asked if our troupe would adopt her daughter. She will be a Freshman at another local high school that does not have a theatre program. 

I haven't spoken to the parent yet, but I believe the goal is for her to attend our state festival and possibly be eligible for scholarships etc when the time comes.

Have any of you done something like this??

What do i need to do? Can it be done?

--

Erika Trahan

Kaplan High School

Speech and Theatre

Thank you, all for clarification! :)

------------------------------
Erika Trahan
Kaplan LA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2019 11:40
From: Brian Benz
Subject: Adopting students from another school

Hi, Erika

 

A fundamental question is what the relationship would be between the student and your school or troupe. If she's just looking for someone to take her to the state festival, it would be a question of school policy, chapter policy, and your personal preference. As others have noted, some schools have policies restricting the participation of outside students. It may be a basic issue of insurance coverage or risk management. Also, each chapter has different policies governing eligibility for registration, scholarships, IEs, etc. Some have few requirements; some require students to be affiliated with a member school; some require students to be officially inducted Thespians or Junior Thespians. Of course, all of this assumes that you choose to take responsibility for the student.

 

If the goal of the student/troupe relationship is affiliation or membership, there are ITS rules that cover that. Often troupe affiliation is the minimum requirement for participation in programs and events. In the troupe handbook's Appendix 3: Guidelines for determining student troupe affiliation, affiliation is defined as, "The student is actively participating in the troupe's program, i.e., a troupe member or actively earning points in the troupe." Other guidelines apply as well. If the student wouldn't be allowed to participate in your productions, she couldn't be officially affiliated with your troupe. However, if she were participating in your productions and didn't have a troupe at her school, she could be considered affiliated with your troupe at the discretion of you and your administration. Whether or not she would be allowed to participate in chapter events would still be determined by chapter policy.  

------------------------------
Brian Benz
Membership Manager
Educational Theatre Association

Original Message:
Sent: 05-17-2019 10:17
From: Erika Trahan
Subject: Adopting students from another school

Recently a parent whose child does community shows with a local organization has asked if our troupe would adopt her daughter. She will be a Freshman at another local high school that does not have a theatre program. 

I haven't spoken to the parent yet, but I believe the goal is for her to attend our state festival and possibly be eligible for scholarships etc when the time comes.

Have any of you done something like this??

What do i need to do? Can it be done?

--

Erika Trahan

Kaplan High School

Speech and Theatre