On Wednesday, Jan. 8, Southwest’s theatre program, Silver Hawk Theatre, will induct 14 students into the International Thespian Society (ITS), which is a theatre honor society created by the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA). More specifically, Southwest students are initiated in ITS Troupe #6547.
“Similar to the National Honor Society, ITS is a national theatre honor society,” theatre director Mr. Austyn McKee said. “All of the big stars in Hollywood, as well as the directors at Southwest are all members of ITS, so it’s a really special organization that takes a lot of work to get into.”
ITS membership is earned, and can be achieved when students fulfill a set of criteria that pertains to their involvement in the theatre program.
“You have to get so many ITS points to be initiated,” McKee said. “This accumulates by being in shows, participating in theater activities, volunteering your time and it’s really hard to put into perspective. One ITS point equals about 10 hours of work.”
Troupe #6547 was chartered in Southwest’s opening year, 2001, by former teacher and theatre director Mr. Bob Henrichs. Since then, every year, a number of students have been initiated in both January and May, and last year, 30 students from Southwest were initiated into ITS.
“Being initiated into ITS is a really good opportunity, and I’m really grateful to be a member,” junior Avery Runestad said. “I really like theatre, but it’s very different because I’ve done music my whole life, but I’ve never really been on the stage, so it has definitely helped me as both a musician and an actor.”
Every ITS initiate also has “parents,” who are upperclassmen who leave gifts with hints to who they are in the days leading up to initiation. ITS parents help to organize the event, and initiates will find out who their parents are by the end of initiation. They also usher initiates into the honor society and help them to understand the significance of ITS and how important it is to now represent Southwest as a whole. Initiates can have as little as one parent to a group of four to five people. In December, interested ITS parents attend a meeting in private, the purpose of which is a secret to everyone but ITS parents and the directors. McKee jokingly likens it to a cult.
“It’s veiled in a lot of secrecy,” McKee said. “Every new ITS initiate gets an understanding of what ITS stands for and makes promises to represent Southwest as well as ITS in general. Then they sign their name on our honor roll, so they will forever be on our wall saying that they are a part of ITS at Southwest.”
