Thespians, the Theatre National Honors Society, does more than just theater itself; within the NCHS organization the 18 Thespian members give back to their community through fundraisers. The act on stage, but take community action as well.

The group meets outside of the theater to volunteer and to raise money for organizations in town; their main goal is to give back to the community through different theatre events. The group  fundraises by performing plays, while some of the proceeds help to sustain the group itself, they pride themselves on being able to benefit  local organizations.

“[The group does] volunteer work for different things to raise money for ourselves,” Rachel Lowrance, senior and Thespians president, said, “and different theater things. We just all around want to care about theater, and care about showing that group.”

Most school extracurriculars value leadership and volunteering, and Thespians is no exception.

“I think [Thespians] has really helped me grow as a leader and in volunteering,” Lowrance said.

Students can grow through Thespians, which allows them to give back to their community through utilizing their theater talents. Thespians member, SophiaRose Brown (12) agrees that Thespians has been beneficial in her high school years.

“Our first improv show,” Brown said, “we raised money for our friend Camden Coe. He had a fundraiser that he was having the next day, Jam for JM. So we raised money to help with that, and we raised over 700 dollars and he started crying [after receiving the $700].”

JM, or Juvenile Myositis, is a rare and sometimes life-threatening autoimmune disease.

Because Thespians is a relatively small group of students, most students at NCHS who aren’t not currently involved with the theater or music programs aren’t aware of the organization.

“We don’t just get together and read plays, we do things in our community,” Brown said, “and it’s a serious thing. The reason we’re in [Thespians] is because we are serious about theatre. We don’t just do it for fun.”

In order to become a thespian, a student must earn 10 points by working in the theater. To earn these points, students can do anything from attending a “Tech Saturday” to having lines in a play production.  If students don’t earn the points to join Thespians freshman year, they will be able to earn the points by sophomore year.

Brown said, “Work hard. If you don’t get the hours your freshman year, then you will definitely get them you sophomore year. Just work hard and you’ll achieve it.”