The acting troupe won first place for its lobby display, which showed the troupe’s involvement in the community, and was named a Gold Honor Troupe, the highest honor a thespians group can receive. The conference was held last weekend.
Community involvement was a strength for the thespians in 2006. Among other things, the student actors helped stage a mock DUI crash to nail home the dangers of drunk driving and began an activity called Spartan Educational Theater that performed Red Ribbon Week skits at eight elementary schools.
Drama teacher Amanda Vannocker said there had been a high demand for some kind of educational theater that could reach out to the grade schools throughout the year.
“I get so many calls from elementaries saying ‘Hey, can you do a skit on stranger danger or fire prevention?’” Vannocker said. “That group was created to address those elementary school needs.”
The group also received second place for improvisational acting for a performance by Tyler Thompson, Joel Austin, Ben Reilly, Logan Herrera and Aaron Wyatt.
The next challenge will be to keep things going with a number of new faces. Vannocker will be losing 17 seniors this year.
“I’m a little nervous to say the least,” she said. “I have some good ones coming up, but to lose a big bunch like that makes you nervous.”