2020 National Shakespeare Competition

News

The ESU will host the 2020 National Shakespeare Finals in New York City on Monday, April 27th. This is a truly inspirational and engaging event bringing together high school students from all across the United States as they compete through presentation of Shakespearean monologues and sonnets. Our Dallas branch has been sending students for many years. This year, we will send (student finalist) to NYC – and we are genuinely delighted!

As you can imagine, hosting nearly 60 students in New York City for the finals is an expensive and costly endeavor. I am hoping you might help support this most worthwhile initiative that I am directing Your support will fund a one-of-a-kind program that since 1983 has engaged more than 360,000 young people like Jackson. Approximately 2,500 teachers and 20,000 students in nearly 60 ESU Branch communities nationwide have also been involved.

The ESU National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based educational program serving grades 9-12 and is aligned with modern educational practices. Participating students practice essential skills such as critical thinking, close reading and public speaking. They work through all six levels of Bloom's taxonomy, from recall to creation, increasing self-confidence through reading, analysis and performance of Shakespeare. Moreover, these students work with teachers and peers in a student- centered program of experiential and cross-curriculum learning.

Participating in the program is essentially an educational and character-building effort. On one level, it instills reading and speaking skills. But the competition goes far beyond that. It provides teachers with a framework to engage and motivate their students to foster a sense of individuality and creativity.

We request that in your charitable gifts that you consider the ESU's Global Giving page.

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