SUBJECT: Theatre Guild eNews - September 2, 2024 Guild Newsletter
September 2, 2024
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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Your Support Matters
I hope you're planning to join us for our Theatre Guild Welcome dinner TOMORROW evening (Tuesday, September 3) at El Fenix. We will have lots of information to share about the Guild and ways you can get involved. I hope you'll consider signing up to serve on a committee or volunteering at one of our many performances.
One of the most important ways the Guild bolsters the Theatre Conservatory is through financial support for programs and supplies not funded by the school district. We will highlight our funding initiatives throughout the year; it's important for you to see your contributions at work. Mark your calendar for North Texas Giving Day on September 19 - it's a great way to support community philanthropy and an opportunity to multiple your gift to the Theatre Guild too!
ALL parents/guardians of Theatre Conservatory students are invited to dinner at El Fenix to hear from the Theatre teachers about the 2024-25 school year and meet, mix and mingle with other Theatre parents.
Thanks to everyone who has already joined the Theatre Guild & if you haven't joined yet, please consider a membership. It's a quick process and a Basic Membership is free & comes with a weekly newsletter subscription.
Stay tuned for Volunteer Needs!
Parent Volunteers: Please make sure you create or renew your DISD VOLY profile so you're ready to volunteer. This is an easy process that ensures that all volunteers on campus are vetted.
Student volunteers: Can get service hours for helping out.
Your donations will help the Guild support the Theatre Conservatory students & teachers. Donated snacks and water bottle are sold by Guild volunteers before Theatre Conservatory Shows and during intermission. You are invited to shop on Amazon using the Theatre Guild's Wish List. Amazon will ship donations directly to Concessions Chair Alicia Rico. Or you can shop for water bottles or any of the other requested items in a brick and mortar store and deliver to Booker T. during Tech Week (before the run of the show). Donations that are dropped off must be clearly marked "Theatre Guild Concessions."
What: Student Recognition Playbill ads are an excellent way to celebrate a student who is in the CAST or CREW of the show or show your support for Booker T Theatre performances. Additionally, we can have Playbill ads to recognize our support of the BTW staff and faculty.
How: It is easy – just submit the artwork (picture or clipart) and the copy (text) you wish to have with the artwork to the Playbill Coordinator at playbill@btwtheatreguild.com. Or you can create your own ad. Please include the size ad you are purchasing.
What does it cost to place an ad in one Playbill?
Full page 5"x8" $75
Half page vertical 2.5" x 8" $50
Half page horizontal 5" x 4" $50
Quarter page 2.5" x 4" $25
Where can I buy an ad? Ads can be purchased online using this link to the BTW Theatre Guild or you can use your membership benefits for an ad. Theatre Guild membership benefits for guild members at the Copper ($75) level and above include one or more ads.
Does my membership come with an ad? All levels at Copper or above get FULL page student recognition playbill ads (which can be broken into ¼ or ½) as follows:*
Copper 1 page per school year
Silver 2 pages per school year
9th Grade Only Gold 3 pages per year
Gold 3 pages per school year
Platinum 4 pages per school year
Diamond 6 pages per school year
If you are already a member, please make sure to tell us that you intend to use one of your included ad when you email your ad materials to playbilldesign@btwtheatreguild.com
Many colleges and universities participate in an annual survey intended to provide accurate and timely information. Most participating schools make their individual Common Data Set publicly available online. To find out if it is available for a specific college search "Common Data Set" and the school's name.
The Common Data Set includes a wealth of information if you know where to look. This week you will learn how to find out whether a college considers the level of an applicant's interest a factor in their freshman admissions decisions.
Demonstrated Interest
Students are often told that schools look for demonstrated interest. There are many opportunities for high school students to express their interest in a college. For example, students can visit campuses (in person or virtually), attend meetings with reps, take part in virtual information sessions or tours, interact on social media, interview as part of the application process (where available) and send a thank you note after any interaction. Submitting an application to one school either early decision or restricted early action can also show that single school your level of interest. (But note that these types of restrictive early applications can also impose limits on submitting applications to and/or accepting offers from other schools.)
How can you find out if demonstrated interest is important at a school? Look at Section C7 of the Common Data Set to see the academic and nonacademic factors considered by a school making freshman admission decisions. The last nonacademic factor listed is "Level of applicant's interest" which is marked as Very Important, Important, Considered or Not Considered. Here are a few examples of some of the schools in each category
Very Important American University Ithaca College Morehouse College
Important Auburn University DePaul University Tulane University
Considered Boston University Chapman University New York University Northeastern University Texas A&M University University of Oklahoma
Not Considered Belmont University Brown University University of California at Los Angeles University of Southern California University of Texas at Austin
What does it mean? Most importantly IF a senior plans to apply to a school that considers applicant's level of interest they should make sure to show interest. It doesn't matter if it is their very first choice if the school does not know that. Students should reach out to the college reps, ask the BTW college counselor or teachers, BTW alumni or students at the school to find more ideas about demonstrating interest in that school. When applying to a school that does not consider applicant interest that doesn't mean that you should skip those common ways of demonstrating interest. Just know it is unlikely to be as big a factor in the admissions decision process.
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On August 13th, the Theatre Conservatory held a meeting for seniors' families and shared information about the 2024-25 school year including YoungArts, Senior Showcase, as well as performance and audition opportunities. Here is a link to the slides that were shared with seniors' families.
It is important to mark your calendars because the majority of Senior Showcase for the Theatre Conservatory occurs on Friday November 22 and Saturday November 23. (That is the Saturday before Thanksgiving. If you are planning to travel you will want to take that into consideration.) Showcase requires lots of Theatre parent volunteers to run smoothly. The Theatre Guild looks to the parents of 9-11th graders because parents of seniors are not allowed to be present at or volunteer during Theatre Showcase Events.
The September meeting will be held at the Back to School Dinner at El Fenix on 9/3 at 7pm (after the PTSA meeting). ALL parents & guardians of Theatre students are invited.
The October Theatre Guild General Meeting will be on 10/8 following the PTSA meeting. The Theatre Guild plans to hold its meeting from 7-8pm in room 246/248.
We don't want to miss an appearance or accomplishment! We rely on our guild members to let us know where to spot a Pegasus in the wild. If your Pegasus is in a non-Booker T production, please let us know. Our talented kids are so busy we need your eyes and ears to make sure we get the word out. Please include viewing dates, ticket links and any other details that will help us spot a Pegasus in the Wild. Alumni are Pegasi as well so keep those tips coming in too!!!
During the first week of school, Viviana Santiago (2025), went to Capitol Hill to discuss arts advocacy and her experiences as an artist at Booker T Washington HSPVA and as a participant of a summer intensive at the Kennedy Center. She met with staffers from the offices of TX Senator Ted Cruz, TX Senator John Cornyn, and US Representative Jasmine Crockett.
Learning Lab Class of 2025
Learning Lab is a collaboration between the Theatre Conservatory and Theatre Three. The students are affectionately called Lab Rats. This year's Lab Rats were spotted on social media after they toured T3 and met the staff. Theatre Three's associate artistic director Christie Vela, who currently also serves as the course liaison, made the introductions to help familiarize the students with their off campus classroom. Actor, writer and educator Lauren LeBlanc is returning for her second year as the Learning Lab instructor. Students selected to participate in this intensive internship program get exclusive behind-the-scenes access to rehearsals, artist interviews, free tickets to every T3 show (and many more across the metroplex), and master classes. The course is only for Booker T. Theatre seniors and admittance is by audition only.
If you are a PTSA member, there is a code for a $5 discount on your ticket order. You will need to log into the PTSA membership toolkit to get the code.
Thursday September 12 is opening night! (Wednesday is a student preview show and ONLY students should be in the audience. )The PTSA anticipates that On Your Feet! may sell out and encourages all Booker T families to buy their tickets in advance.
If you are the parent or guardian of a Theatre Conservatory student you are invited to join the individual class Facebook group for additional information & updates about everything that is going on at Booker T.
All Facebook groups are private and you will need to provide your BTW student's name and answer the questions in order for your request to join to be approved.
