For the 51st year in a row, the Colorado Thespian Convention proved an enormous success, thanks in part to members of Lewis-Palmer High School’s drama department. Rangers involved in all areas of the dramatic arts from acting to set design and technical crew spent an enthusiastic three days at the Denver convention.

ThesCon, as the annual gathering is affectionately known, is a fixture of the Thespian school year; a favorite event and a right of passage for eligible theater members. 2015’s convention was no different.

“ThesCon is amazing! It’s the best thing on the face of the earth. This year’s was especially great,” said Rob Kaylor, 11.

ThesCon’s December 3rd opening ceremony was hotly anticipated and preparations were undertaken with enthusiasm in the preceding weeks.

“We were all super excited and we made a Facebook page so we didn’t bother the other drama people with our constant updates. Near Thanksgiving we made our shirts for all the D38 kids to wear and kind of unify us, and this year they said ‘I literally ThesCon’t even,’” recalled first-time participant Olivia Kaiser, 12.

The group of 25 participating Rangers departed at 11:30 am on Thursday, December 3rd to join over 5,000 high school drama students from across Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico for an explosion of workshops, performances, competitions and other events.

“They do seminars over the weekend where they’re learning everything. They bring in professionals from around the state and even many from out of state to give these seminars that I think are just fantastic,” said Lewis-Palmer drama teacher, Jordan Clark.

“There are college professors that come down to Denver and they teach a bunch of workshops. There’s all different types of things: they have swing dancing, they have technical aspects like sound crew, they have acting workshops,” Kaiser said. “There’s performances every night. You kinda just hang out and party.”

ThesCon was not just about high school fun, though. Many attending seniors took the opportunity to audition for scholarships or admissions from the 70+ colleges, conservatories and theater companies in attendance. Other Thespians competed in events like the Tech Olympics. No Rangers were among those in the spotlight this year, but hopes remain high for participation at future conventions.

“I think ThesCon, honestly, is one of the best immersive experiences you can have in theater in high school because you get to meet kids from other schools who have similar passions as you do,”  said Clark. “But more than that, there are so many opportunities for the kids.”

By the time the exhausted but happy students returned on Saturday night, they decided that 2015’s ThesCon was one of the best.