To further the actor and actresses’ theatrical skills, the Alden Senior High School theater club participates in the annual NYSTEA conference, which is held in Callicoon, New York. NYSTEA stands for the New York State Theater Education Association. The conference takes place every year during a weekend in January. Students arrive at the conference Friday afternoon and begin their fun-filled weekend. Over the course of the weekend, students take part in many different workshops and activities designed to improve various aspects of the theater world. Some of the workshops that students from Alden Senior High School took part in were Basic Tap, Goretastic Makeup, Aerial Arts, Songwriting, Belting Through the Roof, and many more. Each workshop is taught by professional presenters who have been trained and have worked in theater for a while. The presenters teach between 15 and 20 students per workshops to ensure each student has the chance to learn new theater skills in a welcoming environment without the overwhelming feeling of being in a large group of people. Alden Senior High School’s theater department sent 15 student delegates and 2 advisors to the conference this year. After talking with all the attendees, everyone had a great time and said that they think everyone should try to attend NYSTEA at some point in their high school career. It is a great opportunity to learn new things that you would not have could learn before. After having attended NYSTEA for 3 years, I have looked forward to it every year and encourage every theater student to attend NYSTEA to become an even better actor.