ITS stands for the International Thespian Society – an honorary organization for high school students who have shown an exemplary level of skill and dedication to the art form of Theatre. Membership into this honorary society affords its members opportunities in our school, state, and beyond. Parkway South High School is privileged enough to have an active troupe and students at this high school have the opportunity of gaining membership by meeting certain requirements.
Some of annual activites of Troupe #3168 include:
Leadership Conference
Troupe officers meet annually in Jefferson City for workshops in leadership training, new troupe ideas, and changes in the state conference.
Missouri State Thespian Conference
Theatre students from around the state meet in STL or KC for 3 days of workshops lead by teaching artist brought in from around the country. In addition to workshops students can audition for scholarships or the All-State Show (on even years), compete in Individual Events, Tech Challenge, or Improv Olympix. ITS students at South High will receive invitations with specific details sent to their Parkway gmail accounts.
TOTS Eat/Feed the Need
Every Halloween our troupe canvases the surrounding neighborhood to collect non-perishable food items for Circle of Concern. Look for more detailed info at the beginning of October online and in the classroom.
International Thespian Festival
Similar to the State conference but for an extended period of time, students attending ITF are able to do all of the above activities (if qualify for NIEs at state) as well as several additional ones only offered at the National Level. Students will receive information about this activity when they receive their state invitation.
Becoming in Initiated ITS Member
Earn 10 Points at PSH
Whether you work tech or are cast in a production, you earn points towards membership into Parkway South’s ITS troupe #3168. The number of points depends upon the role/position you played in the production, the number of hours you have devoted to the production, and the level of commitment you exhibited throughout the rehearsal process. Points earned can range from .5 to 8 points for every production worked on. As a general rule every 1 point = approximately 10 hours of quality work. You may not earn points in more than 1 category for any single production. All points earned will be recorded at Strike, assuming the participant attends, has paid their drama club dues for the production season, and owes no money to the department.
Work on Productions at PSH in Different Categories
In order to earn ITS points and gain membership into ITS, you must work on productions here at Parkway South High. You are required to work on 2 Main Stage Productions, 1 Mainstage and 2 One Acts, or 4 One Acts. If you have worked on productions in previous years and earned ITS points in the process (see above) those productions can carry over to meet the requirements. listed above. There are several categories which students may earn points in – acting, production, business, directing, writing, miscellaneous, holding an office, and audience. Students desiring membership must have earned 10 points, with at least 3 points in each of 2 different categories and no more than 1 point in the category of misc.
Be Active in the Department and turn in your Application
In addition to working on shows, new applicants need to print out the application (found on google classroom) and meet all the requirements it outlines. All of them are related with being an active and involved member of the PSH theatre department. Get required signatures throughout the school year at point check meetings and turn in the completed application by the April published due date in order to be initiated that school year. Otherwise you may carry points/past year activity over to be initiated the next school year. Earning enough credits to become a member often takes students 1-2 years.
What if I was an initiated Jr ITS member?
If you had the honor to be initiated into Junior Thespians in middle school, great! 10% of the total points you earned in JITS (up to 5) will transfer into your high school account. This would mean, for example, if you had earned 50 points in JITS you transfer 5 here. 40 points =4 and so forth. These points can count towards your point total AFTER initiation.
Google Classroom Code
ITS Troupe 3168 Officers
The application for our big sibling program (these will be the upperclassmen who will help you navigate your application) as well as the ITS Application are all on the google classroom. You must be a Parkway student with a gmail account in order to access this site. The code to join is posted in room 1101 (theatre classroom).
President - Kate Ewing
Vice-President - Kyra Rhoades (also Missouri Thespian Officer
Secretary - Caroline Hosler
Historian - Jasmine Flowers
Upperclass Member at Large - Bryan O'Keefe
Underclass Member at Large - Zayna Fakhani
Initiation for Troupe 3168
