Junior Thespian Troupe 88521 from Lincoln Middle School continues to build on its legacy, earning straight Superior ratings at the 2026 Florida Junior Thespian State Festival. The troupe, which has captured Best in Show honors at district competition for four consecutive years, reached new heights this season at the state festival, held Feb. 5–7 at the Orlando Convention Center.
For the first time in troupe history, students earned Superior ratings for all eight of their performance pieces, along with multiple Top Honors awards and a Judge’s Choice award. The Judge’s Choice-winning performance was selected to be featured at the festival’s closing ceremony.
In addition to the team’s success, Troupe 88521 was one of only two troupes statewide selected to perform its production of “Mean Girls Jr.” on the MainStage at the State Festival. This honor gave the students the opportunity to perform before an audience of more than 1,000 fellow thespians
State Festival Performance Results
Troupe Director Jackie Collins, theater and choral teacher at Howard Bishop and Lincoln Middle Schools, founded Troupe 88521 during the 2022–2023 school year. Under her leadership, the troupe has consistently raised — and exceeded — their performance goals, earning milestone achievements each year.
The troupe concluded its competition season with a performance at the 2026 Education Gala on Feb. 27, where students performed “All Girl Band” in support of the Education Foundation of Alachua County.
Troupe members participating at the State Festival included: Logan Armfield, Jacomo Ayala-Vermont, Nadia Badea-Bondoc, Nora Baiser, Kate Bishop, Roona Brown, Ruby Brown, Gwen Butson, Tess de las Alas, Julius Deutsch, Mar Dorsi, Denali Drobach, Belen Duong, Greyson Edelstein, Jane Han, Paisley Harkins, Teagan Hart, Sophie Howard, Lillian Fisch, Stella Gee, Everly Jeng, Lulu Keselowsky, Charloe Kim, Jackie Kramer, Vivienne Larson, Zoe Leonades, Ramona Liesenfeld, Alexandra Malaty, Dalitso Maynard-Pemba, Emi Maxwell, Yeats Minson, Collins Moore, Alexis Murad, Vera Ney, Ever Oulman, Anjali Parvateneni, Celeste Perez-Thomas, Lena Sampedro, Ruby Seda, Angela Sevilla, Olive Shepper, Sonya Sinnreich, Rosalind Sozda, Meha Srivastava, Lucy Thompson, Nakai Tucci, Amelia Walker, Sophia Williams, Tiffanie Win, Madeline Wright, Nehir Uzin, and Mina Zimmerman.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Lincoln Middle thespians earn straight Superior ratings at State Festival
Reporting by Special to The Sun, The Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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