Category: Archive

Dear 25th Year HST Families,
As promised, HST will host another trip to NYC for our 25th Anniversary. (We have done NYC trips for our 15th and 20th Anniversaries and hope to continue this 5 yr. pattern.) Limited spaces will be filled first come, first serve.
WHAT is included in this trip?
– HST will rent coach bus(es) to travel to New York City on Monday, Dec. 30th (depart 7am, return 11:30 pm) – Groups of 2 to 6 will have several hours to explore NYC, staying within the confines of the assigned walking map which marks all the animated Christmas window displays and includes Times Square and Rockefeller Center. – – Attendees will be able to watch the test “drop” of the New Year’s Eve ball in Times Square (scheduled for Noon on Dec. 30th). – All attendees will end up at Radio City Music Hall to take a tour and watch the Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular show. – After the show, NY pizza, water, and dessert will be provided on the bus for trip back.
WHO is eligible to come?
· Current HST families and HST alumni families who meet age requirement.
· Current HST teachers/directors.
· Age (by Dec. 31, 2019) requirements:
o Age 19 and up – must have one person to tour with.
o Age 15-18 need parent signature to tour in group of 3 to 6 high school students.
o Age 13 & 14 need an adult chaperone for a group of 4 students.
· Siblings can be a chaperone if they are age 21 or older. Chaperones pay for their trip.
COST for this trip?
· Cost is $200 (non-refundable).
o If something comes up so that you can no longer attend, HST will send an email to see if someone else in HST would like to buy your slot from you.
– You can make 4 payments of $50
o Four checks should be dated: August 20, Sept. 20, Oct. 20, Nov. 20.

*Please mail signed Registration page, Guideline, and Liability Waiver with all pre-dated check(s), payable to HST. *
*Postmark deadline:** August 16 (Mail to: HST, PO Box 150, Rockville, MD 20851*
*Hand deliver to Mullan’s** on August 19(400 Broadwood Dr., Rockville, MD 20851)*
See attached registration form for more details. If you have other questions, feel free to call 240-997-5796 or reply to this email.
Blessings,
Marilyn

25th-Anniversary-NYC-Trip.pdf
25th-Medical-Liability-Waiver.pdf

Dear 25th Year HST Families,
My official “start of the year” email is early this year because it is our 25th Anniversary Year! At the end of this year, we will have produced 100 Mainstage shows! There is no question that God has blessed HST far beyond what we ever thought was possible.
Each year I pick an adjective for my email salutation. This year, it seems obvious that it just needs to be “25th Year” because no matter how many years your family ends up being with HST, you will always remember being part of us during our 25th year. I will be a celebration of gratitude all year long! To start off, I want to share my gratitude for YOU! We could never do what we do without the amazing families who share their time, treasure, and talent with HST. So, I THANK YOU for being a part of our 25th year.
Next, I want to warn you that I will be sending 3 emails concerning our Anniversary Year trip to NYC. For those who are new to HST or missed the email earlier this summer, *we have a deadline coming up for returning unused tickets.* *We will need email commitments by Monday* – so please consider reading about this trip if you have students who are 8th grade and up.
Come September you should be receiving class lists and a family director so you can work out carpools. Other important dates.
– Thespian Honor Society (THS) students have their kick-off over-night on Friday, Sept. 6th thru Sept. 7th (day trip to DC on 7th). – Our Show Announcement will be sent out on *Saturday September 7th*. – Our highschool students will hold two Car Washes in September (14th & 21st) as their contribution toward fundraising (remember your tuition does not cover anything but teacher/staff pay) – tickets and fundraising/donations cover everything else. Please plan to come and support our students on one of these Saturdays – Any current HST students who will be age 14 by Dec. 31, 2019 is considered an HST highschool student (even though some are still in 8th grade). All are eligible to sign up to work the car wash. – NOTE: there are more students who want to work than slots available. * We will send out the Car Wash Sign-up Genius link Saturday evening, Sept. 7* to all families who have a student that is age 14 by 12/31/19. Please sign up for one just one slot to give maximum people chance to work. If all slots don’t fill by Monday, we’ll send out an email letting students know they can sign up for more slots. – *Mandatory Parent Meeting* date is *Friday, Sept. 27*. – New families from 10am to Noon. We will go over the HST contract, theater volunteer jobs, volunteer teams, and go over what an HST looks like (including student social opportunities). – Returning families from 1pm to 2:30pm. We will go over HST finances, upcoming year over-view, calendar changes, and meet the Directors (including some new directors!). – Babysitting/study hall room will be provided by our Honor Society students. Donations accepted (this money supports the social activities that THS sponsors. – McD’s Kick-off Event! Friday, Oct. 4th from 11am to 1pm. ( HST will get a percentage of the sales between 11am to 1pm. Funds help cover social event costs.) – GB, SR, & SH troupes have 1st class that afternoon. – Theatricals will have their discounted outing to Go Ape in afternoon. – JR & Acting invited to local park for soccer/games in afternoon. – First Class Dates: – GB, SR., SH troupes – Oct. 4 – Acting, JR, Theatricals – Oct. 11 – 1st Dance classes – Oct. 15 & 16
Please enjoy the rest of your summer. Look for class lists come September. Blessings, Marilyn

Dear HST Families,
Many of you have offered to help me since I am stuck at home with this broken ankle (I can’t drive since it’s my right foot). I am completely humbled by so much kindness and generosity, although I admit that asking for help is not my strength. My guess, is that my accident is supposed to be an opportunity to get better at taking help. So, I am throwing together a last minute workday this Saturday. My youngest daughter is coming home Saturday night and it would be nice to have a bit of help with some yard work & cleaning. Marianne took vacation time in the spring to come help get tasks done (including yardwork) in preparation for my son’s Ordination in June. It would be nice if she didn’t have to see how many weeds have returned since I’m stuck in the house!
So, if there are any students (age 12 & up) or parents who have an hour to give Saturday morning (bringing your own gardening tools, please), that would be great.
I understand that many people are on vacation and most people will have plans already, but that is actually a good thing. I really don’t need tons of workers, so I figure the few people for whom this last minute notice works…will be just right!
Blessings, Marilyn

Dear HST Families,
We apologize that the new system has a high learning curve (for all of us). I trust that God will help us all get through the frustration and reap the blessings down the road.
Since several people are still struggling to get the registration done, we are extending the discount prices through today.
Please contact Mena Stell if you are having any problems. menamacrina@gmail.com
Finally, please remember to encourage new families to consider joining HST. We know that *HST is not a cheap program, but we trust that you will explain that there are MANY other benefits *to HST beyond great training and wonderful shows (*amazing families, great friendships, social activities, leadership opportunities, etc.*).
Many thanks to all for your support and patience. Blessings, Marilyn

Dear Returning HST families,
REMINDER: Registration prices go up at 7:30am Friday, August 2nd. We have MANY families who have not yet registered! Please take care of this and please promote HST to new families. The link for registering as new family can be found on our website.
Returning families should have received invite(s) to enroll your child(ren) for HST’s 25th season late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The email will be coming from TADS, the company who will be handling our registration and payments this year.
This email will have links to *3 documents that you should look at before you enroll*. They are:
· A course list link which will bring up our *2019-2020 Class chart*. Please review this prior to enrolling your children. The early bird registration price is will *only *be in effect through *July 31st*. Also, due to lack of staffing, we had to eliminate a few classes.
· *A tuition worksheet *link that will bring up a 2 page worksheet to help you calculate your total tuition. Unfortunately, the new system will not provide a total price until you have enrolled all your children. At that point, you will not be able to make changes without contacting us. In order to minimize this, we ask you to please download this worksheet and fill it out for your records prior to enrolling.
· *A prepaid ticket worksheet* link that will bring up a document to help you calculate what you owe for prepaid tickets. The TADS system will not have the capability of charging the price of prepaid tickets this year. Therefore, we will be collecting payment for them by check(s) at our September parent meeting.
After you review these documents, we ask that you click the “enroll on the TADS website” link. This will bring you to a sign-in page. Please click the gray “Create a New Account” button and fill out all the necessary info. The system will then walk you through enrolling your child.
*Important registration notes:*
· There is a Student Supplemental Question page that asks you to select your student’s grade in school from the pull down menu. This may be adjusted throughout elementary school (e.g. in cases where a student needs to either repeat or skip a grade). However, once you list your student as an 8th grader, your student will be eligible to enroll in HST for up to 5 years (including the 8th grade year). If they skip a grade or graduate early, they have 4 years left.
· The Health Information page has a box labeled “allergies”. *Please use this box to list not only allergies, but also any other health or learning issues we should be aware of.*
· Please note the terms and conditions on the Submit Registration page. Also please be aware of the important note that if you continue forward, you may not make further changes to your course selections without contacting HST directly.
· Once you have enrolled your first child, you will be brought to a page that lists your other children. (You can also get to this page by clicking the enrollment tab at the top.) Please click on each name and repeat the enrollment process for each child. TADS requires that you accept all policies again for each child.
· If the child is not returning, please click that name and select ‘No’ when prompted. You *must* click all through listed names before your family is fully enrolled.
· To enroll a new child, please click the Admissions Tab. Then click the “Start New Application” button. You will then receive another email inviting you to enroll this child. Once we accept your child on our end (TADS does not allow this piece to be automatic), you will receive another email asking you to set up a payment agreement for this child.
· Once your family is fully enrolled, you will be brought to the payment agreement page where you can set up payments through TADS.
*Important payment notes*:
· Payments can only be made by credit card or direct withdrawal from your bank. You will need to select one of these options.
· If you pay by credit card, TADS will charge you a 3% convenience fee.
· When you first register, TADS will charge the $30 registration fee.
· In order to avoid incurring any additional fees, please use the same method of payment for all children. If a pop-up asks you to select an account, choose the “select existing account” option rather than “create a new account” unless you have a serious reason to do so.
· You have the option of having other payments charged or withdrawn on either the 15th or 25th of each month.
· Once you enroll all of your children, you will have the option of selecting a payment plan that splits your tuition over 1, 2, 4, or 6 installments. The 1 or 2 installment payment plans do not incur any additional fees. TADS will charge a $55 fee for the 4 and 6 payment plans. The table below lists the months these payments will be charged. If you select the 15th and you select one of the plans that have a July payment, TADS will make the first charge immediately (since it after July 15). Please note that there is no payment in September because that is when prepaid ticket checks will be collected.
# Payments Payment Dates 1 July 2 July, Nov. 4 Aug, Oct., Nov., Dec. 6 July, Aug., Oct., Nov., Dec.
· If you enroll after July 25 but before the Sept 1 registration deadline, TADS will charge you any previous payments.
We realize that this is a big change and will take some getting used to for all of us. But, we hope and pray that God will use this new system to streamline the registration and payment process so that we can devote more energy to the students in this program. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mena Stell: menamacrina@aol.com 410-905-1137

2019-HST-Family-Tuition-Worksheets.pdf
2019-HST-Prepaid-Ticket-Worksheet.pdf

TADS has already processed all the automatic payments that were going to post today. you can still select a payment plan that includes the July payment. But your July payment will not be automatic since that payment will be considered overdue. So, what you will have to do is tell TADS that you wish to make a payment.
From your TADS account, Click the billing tab at the top. Click your account number. Click the invoice number with the July due date. Then, in the middle of the page, there should be some more tabs. Click the payment tab. This page should have a green button toward the bottom that says “Make Payment”. Click that button and the system will walk you through doing that. This should be done as soon as possible after you have completely registered so that TADS doesn’t charge you a late fee.
After this first payment, all your others should go through automatically. You can double check by looking under the payments tab each month.
If you have any questions, you can get TADS to help by clicking the support tab. Or, if you would like to contact someone internally, Mena Stell at: menamacrina@aol.com or text 410-905-1137.

Dear HST Families,
I failed to send an official email stating that we will not attempt to do a video camp this summer due to my broken ankle. It is just not realistic with my limited mobility and my need to catch up on tasks that didn’t happen in June because of my surgery/recovery and family event.
I’m trusting that God will still enable us to have a good fundraising campaign for replacing 16 microphones this year. Please join me in asking Him help us achieve this goal. Blessings, Marilyn

Dear HST Families,
As promised, HST will host another trip to NYC for our 25th Anniversary. (We have done NYC trips for our 15th and 20th Anniversaries and hope to continue this 5 yr. pattern.) Limited spaces will be filled first come, first serve.
WHAT is included in this trip?
– HST will rent coach bus(es) to travel to New York City on Monday, Dec. 30th (depart 7am, return 11:30 pm) – Groups of 2 to 6 will have several hours to explore NYC, staying within the confines of the assigned walking map which marks all the animated Christmas window displays and includes Times Square and Rockefeller Center. – – Attendees will be able to watch the test “drop” of the New Year’s Eve ball in Times Square (scheduled for Noon on Dec. 30th). – All attendees will end up at Radio City Music Hall to take a tour and watch the Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular show. – After the show, NY pizza, water, and dessert will be provided on the bus for trip back.
WHO is eligible to come?
· Current HST families and HST alumni families who meet age requirement.
· Current HST teachers/directors.
· Age (by Dec. 31, 2019) requirements:
o Age 19 and up – must have one person to tour with.
o Age 15-18 need parent signature to tour in group of 3 to 6 high school students.
o Age 13 & 14 need an adult chaperone for a group of 4 students.
· Siblings can be a chaperone if they are age 21 or older. Chaperones pay for their trip.
COST for this trip?
· Cost is $200 (non-refundable).
o If something comes up so that you can no longer attend, HST will send an email to see if someone else in HST would like to buy your slot from you.
– You can make 4 payments of $50
o Four checks should be dated: August 20, Sept. 20, Oct. 20, Nov. 20.

*Please mail signed Registration page, Guideline, and Liability Waiver with all pre-dated check(s), payable to HST. *
*Postmark deadline:** August 16 (Mail to: HST, PO Box 150, Rockville, MD 20851*
*Hand deliver to Mullan’s** on August 19(400 Broadwood Dr., Rockville, MD 20851)*
See attached registration form for more details. If you have other questions, feel free to call 240-997-5796 or reply to this email.
Blessings,
Marilyn

25th-Anniversary-NYC-Trip.pdf
25th-Medical-Liability-Waiver.pdf

Dear Returning HST Families,
You should have received an email invitation to register with TADS. If you have not received an email from TADS, please let us know ASAP.
Also – please send your email to us from the email account that you want TADS to use.
Blessings, Marilyn
PS – If you are communicating with other HST families, please let them know that registration is open because many people don’t check email regularly over the summer.
PPS – The deadline for the discount prices is July 31st. Most classes will go up $20 on Aug. 1st.

Dear HST Families,
Registration is up and running – PRAISE GOD! We’ve already had several families successfully register. *We recognize that It will be a bit of a learning curve for everyone this year but I am certain that out-sourcing this aspect of running HST was essential for our survivability. * With software needing to be updated every 5 to 7 years so it stays compatible with the web and security issues becoming more difficult, this change is the most economical long-term solution for HST. *Please note that we did not increase any tuition prices this year because we recognize that TADS passes along to our families the 3% cost of using a credit card *(which is enough increase for you). As always we trust that God will help all of our families make prudent decisions for what they can afford and then bless them with provision of income.
*Now that we are open and ready for NEW families*, we’d like to ask your help in finding those new families that keep HST going (as other families graduate out or move on to other things). *Please share with potential families that even though HST’s tuition seems high, it is still about half the cost of regular after-school programs comparable in quality to what we offer.* We also offer more than just classes, we offer a community of wonderful families and many social activities for students to connect with peers. SO, if you know of a family that you think would enjoy HST, please forward them the following link for them to consider registering:
www.hstonline.org/registration-information/
Many thanks & blessings, Marilyn