teen council

New Spark Teen Council!

The purpose of Teen Council is to amplify the voice of the participants in NSPA programming! TC aids our artistic director is some decision making by providing new perspectives. Their goal is to make New Spark the best that it can possibly be for all who participate. Teen Council is also the "face" of NSPA, working events like Camp Expo and manning our booth at the Memphis Children's Theater Festival. The teen council also act as role models in and out of rehearsal as the best representation of New Spark there is. They are the pinnacle of what NSPA stands for!

The application for our 2024-2025 Teen Council is available via invitation by our Artistic Director!

Qualifications:

Applicants must be in grades 8-12
Applicants must have participated in NSPA programming at least twice.
Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 2.5 to be on Teen Council.
Applicants must be willing to share their ideas and opinions regarding NSPA.
The perfect Teen Council applicant is a leader, creative, opinionated, a team-player, an excellent role-model in rehearsal and online, and interested in making New Spark the best it can be.

Schedule:

TC will meet on the 3rd Sunday of each month from 1pm-4pm. These meetings are 100% mandatory. TC members may miss 1 meeting per year.
TC will have one additional meeting per show to design sparkler shoutouts.
If any of our mandatory meetings fall on holidays or weekends where the majority of TC will be out of town, they may move forward or back a week.
While events are being planned, certain TC committees may meet more frequently.

Responsibilities / Benefits:

Teen Council members are usually privy to new information before any other NSPA participants (ex: camp shows, summer show, upcoming fundraisers) because they are the ones planning them!
Teen Council will aid the AD in developing rehearsal policies and procedures (to be presented to the board) by providing the perspective of participants in the show.
Teen Council will aid the AD in merch decisions (t-shirt designs for season/camp shows, wristband design for JTF, etc)
Teen Council will aid in brainstorming/planning fundraisers.
Teen Council will aid in camp show selection.
Teen Council members will be allowed and encouraged to bring forth new ideas (potential fundraisers, new merch ideas, classes, events, etc).
Teen Council members will be allowed to skip applications for NSPA leadership opportunities (stage management, music direction, choreography, etc. This will not apply to camp counselor applications.)
Teen Council will assist the AD in reorganizing and labeling props / costumes / nspa property after every show on scheduled inventory days.

Maintaining Teen Council Status:

TC members will have to maintain excellent rehearsal attendance and behavior.
TC members will be expected to stay active socially and up to date on NSPA events and shows. You do not have to participate in every NSPA show to remain on Teen Council.
TC members will not miss more than 1 mandatory meeting.
TC members will have to reapply at the end of every summer.

Mandatory Meeting Dates:
September 15 / October 20 / November 17 /
December 15 / January 12 / February 16 / March 16 /
April 20 / May 18 / June 29

The Difference Between Mandatory & Additional Meetings:

Mandatory meetings are the prescheduled ones that you see listed above. TC members are only allowed to miss one of these meetings throughout the year.
Any meeting that we have that are not prescheduled like the ones above are "additional", TC members will not be removed from TC for missing these meetings, but may not be needed at whatever event the meeting was about. For example, if you miss a meeting where we're planning our camp expo booth- you will not get to work camp expo.

Parental Involvement:
Our Teen Council parents are welcomed at any event TC is working! We encourage an open line of communication between TC and their parents about the work they're doing, however, parents are not allowed at meetings. There is no facebook group or groupme for Teen Council parents because we encourage our TC to be responsible and self sufficient - which includes keeping their parents updated on their schedule. Parents are welcomed to ask our AD if they have any questions, but most of their info will come from their kids.