Informative

Thespian Board: Farewell and Welcome

Outgoing and Incoming Officers

Beanie Martinico, Staff Reporter

May 7, 2025

The International Thespian Society logo. When inducted, students are given a special pin with this logo, and officers are given pins that denote their position (Mac Theater).

Theater is a well-known entity at EPHS, but many students don’t know about the existence of the Thespian Society: an honor-based, nationally recognized organization of dedicated theater students. At EPHS, specifically, a Thespian is someone who has successfully been involved in three productions. They then get invited to be inducted, and those who commit to doing so are honored through a ceremony. Being inducted means that the new Thespian is now part of the national database and is expected to continue showing leadership and dedication to Theater.

EPHS currently has forty-two Thespians, including outgoing Seniors. Some of these Seniors include the Thespian Officers: the student leaders who are in charge of running not only the Thespian Society but directing the Winter Sketch show for all of Theater as well. On April 14th, the current Officers passed the torch on to the newly inducted 2025-2026 Officer board.

The outgoing Thespian Officers when they were sworn in last year. The four of them were a unique board in that they were all rising Seniors – a rare occurrence on the board (Unknown).

Current outgoing Officers include President Charlie Butler, Vice President Jamie Boch, Joaquin Aguilar (Publicist), and Xiomara Nieto (Producer). Both Charlie and Jamie have been Officers since the end of their sophomore year and were promoted to President and VP at the end of their junior year. Joaquin and Xiomara were both inducted onto the Officer board for the first time at the 2024 Spring Potluck.

They made a lot of changes to the Winter Sketch show: they were able to secure the rights to a licensed production instead of having students write their own. This was a huge success for everyone involved, and it allowed for a more productive, fun, and organized Sketch show. They set a good precedent for the newly inducted Officers: President Isabella Martinico, Vice President Izabella Weiss, Karolina Wojdyla (Publicist), Eric Cardona (Producer), Amelia Munoz (Recruiter), and Isabella Wernsing (Event Coordinator). So let’s take a look at both the outgoing and incoming officers and what they hope for the future!

The newly inducted Thespian officers. The garments that they wear will be returned to the outgoing Officers, but they will be given their own to wear for the 2026-2027 board induction (Beanie Martinico).

The outgoing four Officers at the *SpongeBob* potluck. They wear the crowns and leis in order to pass them on to the next board (Xiomara Nieto).

Moments after Charlie passed on the torch of President. The crown, wand, and sash are things that are only passed on to the President (Xiomara Nieto).

President: Charlie & Isabella

The President’s duties encompass almost every aspect of the Thespian Society. Outgoing President Charlie is most proud of their work as Head Director of Sketch in the Winter of 2024. They researched the show, helped get the rights to it, and blocked out all of the scenes on stage. This was a heavy workload, but they were determined to raise the standard for EPHS Sketch shows. They were happy to see their long-held vision come to life, as the actors on stage performed it as they had imagined.

Charlie passing on the Presidential sash. This is the one ceremonial item that the President does not get to keep at the end of their term; it is kept for every induction (Bella Weiss).

They hope that their successor accomplishes all of this and more, and recommends she learn that being President doesn’t mean controlling everything. Charlie hopes for their successor to learn from their mistakes: learning to trust and delegate to the other Officers is a vital part of being a successful Thespian troupe. Incoming President Isabella (Beanie) hopes to contribute a sense of organization and unity to the troupe, as well as being a responsible Head Director for Sketch. She’s already thinking about next year’s show!

The outgoing and incoming Vice Presidents. They bring different skill sets to the table due to Jamie being Stage Manager and Bella being a cast member (Unknown).

Vice President: Jamie & Izabella

The Vice President’s job is to not only support the President but to ensure that everything runs as it should. Current VP Jamie has had multiple positions on the Officer Board. She was inducted as an Officer at the end of her sophomore year and was promoted to VP at the end of her junior year. She noticed that the biggest difference between simply being an Officer and being VP was the amount of responsibility she was given. While she was delegated a specific job as an Officer, VP required her to be in charge of the more technical aspects of everything.

Jamie passing on her lei to Bella. Both were overcome with emotions due to the reality of change (Unknown).

Incoming VP Izabella (Bella) Weiss had the unique experience of being a State Thespian Officer (STO): an Officer who is part of the state-wide board, rather than just a specific troupe. She was an at-large member, but Bella learned a lot through her time as an STO. She hopes to bring the sense of respect she experienced on the state board to the EPHS officers. She knows that by bringing respect for each other, as well as a willingness to collaborate, the 2025-2026 Officer Board will be successful.

The new leaders of the Thespian Society at their recent induction. Their position is a dream come to reality, since both have envisioned being President and VP with each other for years (Xiomara Nieto).

Charlie and Jamie when they were inducted last year. They had been voted in, instead of the tradition Senior-to-Junior passing on (Jamie Boch).

Karolina and Joaquin. Both bring the unique skill set of being solely in crew to the Officer Board (Beanie Martinico).

Publicist: Joaquin & Karolina

The role of Publicist encompasses handling all aspects of the troupe’s social media. This is especially important during Sketch, and Joaquin’s most important responsibility was making sure to utilize his position in advertising it. He felt that Theater should utilize tools, such as Instagram, in order to make sure that Sketch gets just as much attention as the Fall and Spring Productions. Incoming Publicist Karolina hopes to expand even more on Joaquin’s vision. She would like to make sure that our Thespian troupe is actively engaged online; she is planning on starting a TikTok account for the troupe. Her hope is that through an authentic and present online community, she can spread more important information through consistent uploads.

Eric and Xiomara. They are both organized people, so the behind-the-scenes role of Producer fits them well (Unknown).

Producer: Xiomara & Eric

The role of Producer is the person in charge of coordinating all behind-the-scenes things of the Thespian Society- specifically Sketch. They collect fees, organize t-shirts, create programs, and are the go-between for the Sketch Student Directors and the rest of Theater. Current Producer Xiomara had a lot of work to do during Sketch, and she recommends to Eric that he makes sure to keep track of all important deadlines and submissions. From experience, she knows that the overlap between the end of the Fall Play and the beginning of Sketch can be chaotic, so she hopes her successor gets a head start on organizing things such as tech week meals and t-shirt names ahead of time. Incoming Producer Eric hopes to model his position after Xiomara next year. He plans on making it a point to put physical advertisements for Sketch around the school and just generally making sure that everything behind-the-scenes runs as smoothly as possible.

Amelia, the newly inducted Recruiter. She hopes to be a kind and welcoming person for the younger generation (Amelia Munoz).

Recruiter; Event Coordinator: Amelia & Isabella

While this year’s Officer board only had four positions, the upcoming year will have six. This is due to the way the votes worked out: Karolina, Eric, Amelia, and Isabella had a four-way tie. They got to choose their roles, and while Karolina and Eric filled pre-existing roles, Amelia and Isabella (Bella) had to come up with entirely new ones. Amelia chose to become the Thespian’s Recruiter: an Officer in charge of making sure that the younger generation of Elmwood Park students are aware and excited about Theater. She hopes to ensure that the Thespian Officers attend more eighth grade events: orientations, curriculum nights, etc. She wants to find ways to integrate the younger students into controlled activities with the high schoolers. After all, they are the future of EPHS Theater.

Bella, the newly inducted Event Coordinator. She has been in Theater for many years, and hopes to keep uplifting those around her (Unknown).

Bella, on the other hand, chose to become the Thespian’s Event Coordinator. She is going to be in charge of researching workshops to hold for Thespians (and Theater) in order to bring the community together as a whole. Bella hopes to be a model for future Thespian Officers next year by fostering a positive environment and making sure that her fellow Thespians understand not only the hard work needed to be an Officer but the amount of happiness and fulfillment it brings. It’s a special experience!

The combined graduating and incoming Thespian Officers. The incoming ones are all Juniors, and the outgoing ones are all Seniors (Grant McEachern).

Overall, both the outgoing and incoming Thespian Officers have bright visions for the future, and they hope to keep seeing EPHS Theater be successful for many years to come!

Works Cited:

Aguilar, Joaquin. Personal communication, April 21st 2025.
Boch, Jamie. Personal communication, April 21st 2025.
Butler, Charlie. Personal communication, April 22nd 2025.
Cardona, Eric. Personal communication, April 21st 2025.
Munoz, Amelia. Personal communication, April 17th 2025.
Nieto, Xiomara. Personal communication, April 17th 2025.
Weiss, Izabella. Personal communication, April 17th 2025.
Wernsing, Isabella. Personal communication, April 22nd 2025.
Wojdyla, Karolina. Personal communication, April 21st 2025.

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