Educational Theatre Association Announce Four Schools Receiving National Grant To Fund Honor Society

The Educational Theatre Association is pleased to announce that four schools will receive grants from the New Troupe Charter Grants program. The program is dedicated to bringing honor and recognition to theatre students in financially challenged communities through access to the International Thespian Society. The schools are: Del Lago Academy Campus of Applied Science in Escondido, Cal.; Postville Community Junior High in Postville, Iowa; Valencia High School in Los Lunas, N.M.; and Cunningham Intermediate School in Beloit, Wis.

The New Troupe Charter Grants program awards grants to qualifying schools to fund the charter of an International Thespian Society troupe and the induction of up to 10 students. Qualifications include a school-wide Title I designation and the production of at least one show per year for the two school years preceding the year of the grant application. The initial gift to fund the program has been made by Tams-Witmark Music Library.

The International Thespian Society (ITS), a program of the Educational Theatre Association, is an honorary organization for high school and middle school theatre students located at more than 4,600 affiliated secondary schools across the U.S., Canada, and abroad. Students inducted into the Honor Society are eligible for leadership opportunities, college scholarships, and invitations to perform and compete at state and national venues. Since its founding in 1929, the society has inducted more than 2.2 million students.

Since the grant program's launch in September, 2016 grants have been awarded to charter 20 troupes involving more than 200 students in 10 states.

The schools that received New Troupe Charter Grants this school year in addition to those announced in this release are:

Alabama

• W. P. Davidson High School, Mobile;

California

• Arroyo Valley High School, San Bernardino;
• Jurupa Hills High School, Fontana;
• MIra Monte High School, Bakersfield;

Illinois

• Frankfort Community High School, West Frankfort;

Iowa

• Cora B. Darling Elementary/Middle School, Postville;

Kentucky

• Russell County High School, Russell Springs;
• Western Middle School for the Arts Louisville;
• Leslie County High School, Hyden;

Louisiana

• Delhi Charter School, Delhi;

New Mexico

• Valencia High School, Los Lunas;

Oklahoma

• Harding Fine Arts Academy, Oklahoma City;

Ohio

• Girard High School, Girard;

Texas

• Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge;
• Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Senior High School, Houston; and
• Alvin J. Briesemeister Middle School, Seguin

Tams-Witmark has been a leader in theatrical licensing for over 90 years, and represents some of the most celebrated titles in musical theatre. Thousands of schools, community theatres and professional organizations present Tams-Witmark musicals each year.

Cincinnati-based Successful Products has joined in sponsoring this program by providing complimentary ITS T-shirts for the newly inducted Thespians.

About Tams-Witmark Music Library

Tams-Witmark Music Library licenses the performance rights for over 150 works of musical theatre, including some of the best-known titles from Broadway. Tams-Witmark takes great pride in working closely with our customers, both amateurs and professionals, to provide them with performance rights, high quality scripts, scores and orchestrations. For more information please contact: Tams-Witmark Music Library, 560 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022, tamswitmark.com, 800 -221-7196.

About the Educational Theatre Association

The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), is a professional organization with approximately 100,000 members nationwide. EdTA's mission is shaping lives through theatre education: honoring student achievement in theatre and enriching their theatre education experience; supporting teachers by providing professional development, resources, and recognition; and influencing public opinion that theatre education is essential and builds life skills. EdTA operates the International Thespian Society (ITS), an honorary organization that has inducted more than 2.2 million theatre students since its founding in 1929. EdTA also publishes Dramatics, a monthly magazine for high school theatre students, and Teaching Theatre, a quarterly journal for theatre education professionals.

About the International Thespian Society

The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honorary organization for high school and middle school theatre students located at more than four thousand affiliated secondary schools across America, Canada, and abroad. The mission of ITS is to honor student achievement in the theatre arts. ITS is a program of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA).

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