“Act well your part; there all the honor lies.” This quote, taken from an essay written by Alexander Pope, has always been the motto of the International Thespian Society, ITS, and is the epitome of an exemplary thespian. On Sunday May 2, 15 SHS students were inducted into ITS, and officially became SHS thespians.

Now that these students have had the honor of receiving their lifetime membership, they feel it is an special honor to be named a thespian.

In order to become a thespian, one has to accumulate 10 points. This is the equivalent of approximately 100 hours that the student has helped in a theater production outside of school, according to theater teacher Ms. Barb Whitlock. The points come from a scale created by the ITS and each person who has been involved in a theater production outside of class time has a thespian point sheet. The accumulated points are kept on record until the student reaches 10 points, at which time they are inducted into ITS.

This year, seniors Riley Owens and Shayla Wright had the privilege of being inducted into troop 1356 of the ITS. Owens has been involved in theater since his freshman year, having a part in almost every department the theater offers. He’s directed, acted, helped with the stage crew and spotlights and took part in building various sets for plays and musicals.

“It’s really just a great honor and a show of the amount of effort that a lot of the theater kids put in,” Owens said. “A lot of people think theater is just all about the fun, but there’s so much time spent behind the scenes trying to get everything the way it turns out to be that people don’t really appreciate.”

Wright also appreciates the recognition she received for her hard work as a crew member

“It’s kinda cool knowing all our hard work after school gets noticed and recognized.”Wright said.

Whitlock says becoming a thespian isn’t something that happens by accident. It means you’re dedicated to the SHS theater department and after one is inducted, Whitlock knows they can be trusted and counts on them to lead others who will eventually follow in their theatrical footsteps by becoming thespians themselves.