About 15 years ago, one of my students pitched the idea of doing one acts in the fall and "charging" admission of non-perishable food items and/or $3.00. He even said we should try to do plays associated with love and call the evening Fall in Love: An Evening of One Acts.
So, of course, we tried it. It has been going strong for those 15 years. We donate the food to our local food bank, In conjunction with that, we run a homeroom food collection contest the week after the show with the obligatory donuts and juice for the winners "paid out" the week before Thanksgiving.
We used to report all pounds collected to TOTS, but since the kids came up with this, it has been our fall tradition. Even without TOTS, we continue the practice. We have found that one acts (usually rehearsed and put up in 4 weeks max.) are a great way to introduce students to our program without the time commitment of a full-length musical or drama.
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Dorothea Hackett
DuBois Area Senior High School
Troupe 6949
DuBois, PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2022 15:40
From: Vicki Palmer
Subject: TOTS?
We still do this every year for our local food bank. Our theatre club sponsors the drive. We still go out on Halloween and call it TOTS Eat (we just don't say it's sponsored by EdTA any more). The kids still collect a LOT of food every year. We typically fill 8-10 food bank barrels to overflowing. We just don't submit totals to national any more. It becomes a big competition amongst the student teams. They even dress up with a team costume theme. There are some small prizes (candy) for the winning team. We just count items. It's one of our best events every year! I am proud to say that our 3 community high schools are the National Team Winners for the last 3 years that EdTA recorded totals.
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Vicki Palmer
Theatre Technical Director
Hickman High School - Home of the Kewpies
International Thespian Society Troupe #5568
Columbia, MO
Original Message:
Sent: 10-01-2022 15:30
From: Megan Upton-Tyner
Subject: TOTS?
Is Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat still a thing? I know that they are not recording totals anymore, but the last mention I see is from 2019.
Are troops still doing this?