Madelon’s Involvement with EdTA

Chardon High School—sponsor of Troupe 1784 from 1980 until 1999. When I started working in Chardon, I took over as the official sponsor, but Madelon is certainly more of the leader for the group than I am. The paperwork may say she’s not the official sponsor, but from the work load aspect, I’d argue she is. For instance, the troupe officers all work in her room during the day and she is definitely the “go-to” person for the kids. She also inspires many of the troupe projects and activities: she was the initiator of the TOTS Eat campaign in our district; she creates and executes “Officer Day Of Fun,” “mini-New York” outings, Chicago and NY trips, London excursions, the annual pilgrimages to area, state, and Lincoln; she helps the kids fundraise during our annual Talent Show; and she is generally the person the kids go to for encouragement or if they need a shoulder to cry on. Truly, she is like their second mother; the kids even call her “Mama H.”

Ohio—Madelon served on the state board from 1986-1996. Her first job on the board was as Tech Coordinator for the All-Ohio Show; it was The Crucible that year and they took it to Muncie. The board members were all “Area Reps” and hosted Area Conferences back then. She served as State Director from 1990-1993. She then served as a Regional Director for 5 years.

National—Madelon became a Leadership Coach for EdTA in 1999. She has worked with a number of states, including the entire Northeast part of the country, Texas, Kansas, and Virginia. She travels to many of their state conferences and works with their State Directors to improve their leadership and programming. She served on the EdTA Nominating Committee for a few years. She has also served as a director for the Playworks program at Lincoln at least twice.

As Madelon herself wrote in a bio: “My work with Ohio and EdTA has been some of the most important of my life in terms of personal growth as well as growth for my own troupe. The people I’ve met and the things I’ve learned have contributed to the quality of my life in countless ways and I will be forever grateful for that.”