Theater director Greg Shaw took 45 students to the State Thespian Festival in Wichita, Kansas on the weekend of Jan. 5. The students came home with another qualification for the International Thespian Festival, for a second time in a row.

Sophomore Sarah Stebbins qualified individually for scoring a superior rating in her individual event.

In addition to Stebbins, 18 students participated in individual events consisting of musical theatre productions, technical events and other categories.

“I worked really hard on it. It was a great feeling,” Sarah said. “I knew that I did that and no one else could’ve done it for me, so it was just a big sense of accomplishment and I was overwhelmed with excitement.”

Additionally, the one act directed by Mckenna Shaw, “Dog Sees God,” also qualified.

Shaw also participated in the Kansas All-State show, “Bring It On,” which was adjudicated for internationals.

“This year, [I was in] the all-state show, so I was with kids I didn’t really know as well, but I have gotten to know them,” McKenna said. “The one act was not a main stage show and it was much smaller… that was kind of new for us, but we did our best and obviously it paid off.”

Senior Aidan Harries, who played the lead character in “Dog Sees God,” said he is proud of the accomplishment. .

“I was a little bit surprised just because we had never done a one act before so I didn’t really know what to expect going into it but I take pride in the amount of work we put into it,” Aidan said. “Still, it’s always surprising when you do well and it’s your first time doing it.”

According to Greg, once again, state ended a success for Pittsburg High.

“As proud as I am of what they accomplished, I’m probably even more proud of the fact that it wasn’t me that did it,” Shaw said. “Those kids committed to the show and the process and did a very hard show to a very high level.”

Internationals will be held on June 24-29 at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.