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Theatre Students Continue Record-breaking Support For BC/EFA at Annual Thespian Festival The best theatre students from all around are sure to bring lots of dollar bills and spare change to another BC/EFA fundraising drive at their annual Thespian Festival, June 23-28 at the University of Nebraska. Nearly 3,000 members of the International Thespian Society will gather for "the best week of high school theatre in the country," where regional student officers will spearhead the efforts for BC/EFA.
The Festival features more than fifty productions presented by schools from throughout North America and abroad, plus a full schedule of workshops presented by theatre professionals, performance events, a student playwriting program, and opportunities to audition for college and university representatives and scholarships. The honorary organization for student excellence in theatre arts has a mission (“To honor excellence in the theatre arts,”) and a motto: “Act well thy part; therein lies all the honor.” Luckily for BC/EFA, their “part” includes raising lots of money to fight HIV/AIDS. And this year, Thespians have plenty of reason to celebrate: The International Thespian Society has officially raised over a half-million dollars for BC/EFA! The ITS has successfully grown its efforts for Broadway Cares from single-school, one-show nights to full-scale, regional and state-wide campaigns that often mirror those devised for us by our beloved Broadway, touring and regional companies.
Hundreds of students in schools across the country adopt BC/EFA as part of their regular drama season now, and often times, raise money for us in addition to having to do so to support their own academic and extracurricular programs. Their combined efforts are a testament to how theatre arts programs in schools affect positive change in society, and therefore, how arts in schools are essential for everyone. The ITS is a division of the well-known Educational Theatre Association, based in Cincinnati, whose members are educators, advocates, and artists promoting the importance of school theatre programs nationwide. The Association also serves as the eyes, ears, and voice of the school theatre community, advocating a stronger role for theatre education in the curriculum. Together, the Educational Theatre Association and the International Thespian Society have been helping build strong school theatre programs for more than seventy-five years.
The relationship between BC/EFA and Thespians began when Ryan Williams, then a theatre student at North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, organized a fundraiser for his senior project. The school has since named a service scholarship in his name, and his good will has spread. By the end of 2000, troupes and chapter organizations in nine states had contributed more than $10,000. Efforts have grown so well that during 2007, more than $113,000 was raised in twenty-one states and at the annual International Thespian Festival. Locally, Thespian teachers and parents often accompany their troupes to hold buckets during Easter Bonnet or to carry tables and sell merchandise at the BC/EFA Flea Market in September; students, in turn, get valuable community service points for getting involved with us. In fact, most of our college support comes from former Thespians who graduate to start new campaigns for us on their respective campuses. Among the state Thespian organizations, Florida has made the largest contribution by a wide margin, raising over $200,000 since 2000. Florida Thespians organize regional and statewide campaigns and have topped their own fundraising records for each of the last three years. Other chapters in the top five:
But other chapters are gaining way. In fact, strong BC/EFA efforts happen in the majority of Thespian chapters around the country
Joe Norton, Associate Director of Education & Outreach, is proud of Thespians for raising awareness as well as money: “The ITS is doing more to fight AIDS in local communities than any other educational or academic organization. The amount of AIDS awareness and community involvement surrounding BC/EFA campaigns in schools because of Thespian efforts is priceless, and cannot be named in numbers, though I have no doubt that Thespians will go on to break a million!.” For more information about the International Thespian Society and the annual Thespian Festival, visit: www.edta.org Were you a Thespian in high school? If so, we’d love to hear your story. Call or send an e-mail to Joe Norton: norton@bcefa.org
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