Members of the Educational Theatre Association elected three board members in results announced at the annual meeting held Friday, September 14 at the EdTA National Conference.
For the position of vice president/president, the winning candidate is Scott Wilson.
Scott Wilson. Columbus, Ohio. Currently serves EdTA in several roles at the national level including as an International Thespian Officer Adult Advisor and as a member of the Advocacy Leadership Network. Has served on the board of Ohio Thespians for 17 years and for four years as chapter director. Served on the National Core Arts Standards theatre writing team. Has represented EdTA at 11 state Thespian festivals. Recipient of the 2016 EdTA Co-Volunteer of the Year Award.
For the two positions on the Board of Directors the winning candidates are Helen Duranleau-Brennan and David Tate Hastings.
Helen Duranleau-Brennan. Davenport, Iowa. Has served as chapter director for Iowa Thespians and has been a member of the Iowa Thespians board on and off for over 20 years. While teaching at the secondary level, held several leadership roles and sat on various committees for the arts, education, and advocacy, including the Iowa Department of Education Literacy Committee. Has served on the advisory board of Iowa Alliance for the Arts. Duranleau-Brennan is also being inducted into the EdTA Hall of Fame on Friday, September 14 at the EdTA National Conference.
David Tate Hastings. Olathe, Kansas. Has served as co-chapter director for Kansas Thespians. For the last 16 years has taught theatre at Olathe South High School, which under his leadership received EdTA’s Outstanding School Award. Has served on various committees for EdTA including the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards pilot and Teacher Evaluation Workbook. Previously worked as a bank manager and officer.
The members voted on recommended changes to the EdTA Code of Regulations. There were two votes, one for cleanup and consistency, and the second to amend the board terms. The results of the election are that the code changes were approved.
The terms for these board members will begin on July 1, 2019.
In her “State of the Association” address at the annual meeting, Executive Director Julie Cohen Theobald underscored the hard work and dedication of chapter leaders and members as she highlighted the association’s achievements over the last year. She reported that key Thespian membership numbers are at their highest levels ever in the history of the organization; Thespian inductions climbed to nearly 50,000, and Junior Thespian inductions hit a record total of more than 8,000. This past year the Association launched its philanthropy arm, the Educational Theatre Foundation, to build a funding base to expand access to school theatre programs for every child.
Future board meetings will take place:
- December 15, 2018 via conference call
- February 28-March 2, 2019 in Cincinnati
- April 13, 2019 via conference call
- June 26, 2019 at International Thespian Festival
- July 18-19, 2019 at EdTA Leadership Summit
- September 21, 2019 at EdTA National Conference
