Plano ISD theatre students from all three feeder patterns shined at the 2025 Texas Thespian State Festival, earning national qualifications, state-level recognitions and troupe honors in acting, technical theatre and leadership. Their achievements reflect the strength of secondary fine arts programs and the dedication of their directors, who support students on and off the stage.
Central Cluster
Students from Plano Senior High School, Clark High School and Vines High School (Troupe 844) brought 69 attendees to the state festival, including 42 from Plano Senior, 4 from Clark and 23 from Vines. The troupe earned All-Star Troupe Display and Gold Honor Troupe recognition for 2024–2025, highlighting both student involvement and program quality.
Plano Senior, Clark and Vines students participated in 20 individual and group events, with 18 entries from Plano Senior and 2 from Vines. Students advancing to Nationals include:
Summer Andresen (Stage Management)
Robby Coppedge (Contrasting Monologues)
Miles Golembiewski (Short Film)
Connor King (Contrasting Monologues)
Coda McCardel (Solo Musical Theatre)
Heidi Myers (Contrasting Monologues)
Miki Nakamoto and Matilde Rodriguez‑Glass (Duet Musical Theatre)
Kassi Svatek (Solo Musical Theatre)
K. Wheeler (Prop Construction)
State-only event honors for the Central feeder pattern include Best Performer in the Show Works Play Festival for Mikayla Bigelow, a Texas Thespians Scholarship for Heidi Myers, and a Student Leadership Candidate Finalist distinction for Matilde Rodriguez‑Glass. Matilde was one of 12 students in Texas selected to be a Student Ambassador. These recognitions spotlight students’ excellence in performance, scholarship and leadership at the state level.
East Cluster
Plano East Senior High, McMillen High School and Williams High School (Troupe 3436) brought 37 students to the festival, with 32 from Plano East and 5 from McMillen. 11 Plano East students also participated in individual and group events, further extending the feeder pattern’s presence at the competition.
East feeder students advancing to Nationals include:
Addisyn Barron (Plano East, Solo Musical)
Lucy Breedlove (Plano East, Solo Musical)
Briana Palla (Plano East, Solo Musical)
Scene partners Ayan Mishra and Vishi Krishna in Two Person Scene
These national-qualifying performances demonstrate strong vocal, acting and collaborative skills within the Plano East Theatre Program.
West Cluster
Plano West Senior High, Jasper High School and Shepton High School (Troupe 6101) took 70 students to the state festival, including 35 from Plano West, 25 from Jasper and 10 from Shepton. In addition to contest participation, Wolfpack Theatre Company was selected to present its production of “Six the Musical: Teen Edition” as the convention’s Closing Mainstage Performance, a first-time honor for Plano West.
“Six the Musical: Teen Edition” company members received multiple performance awards, including:
Best Performer (Camille Dobrient as Katherine Howard)
Excellent Performer (Addison Rosenthal as Jane Seymour and Graciana Mayne as Anne Boleyn)
Superior Performer (Tadala Kachete as Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Cockrell as Anna of Cleves and Elizabeth Sutherland as Catherine Parr)
Ensemble and technical recognitions included:
Best Ensemble (featuring Noe Eckert, Miley Espinosa, Yael Sarembock, Ellia Godasi and Kayliana Perez)
Best Lighting (Jasper Wolf and John Taylor)
Best Sound (Daniella Rashdi and Shanel Castro‑Valle)
Best Costumes/Hair (Ezra Boaz).
West feeder students advancing to Nationals with perfect scores include:
Jake Kerstine (Solo Musical)
Noe Eckert and Ellia Godasi (Duet Musical)
Additional national qualifiers with overall superior scores include:
Catherine Cockrell (Contrasting Monologues)
Camille Dobrient (Solo Musical)
Shepton students Cassie Falcon and Kassia Maciejewski (both in Solo Musical)