The Hobart Shakespeareans
Rafe Esquith is a teacher at an elementary school in Koreatown, Los Angeles. There, each spring term, his class perform a Shakespeare play for parents and friends, of which I'm one. Under Rafe's guidance, the young actors have studied and digested the meaning of the words so fully, that when they speak them for us, it is very moving, being in the presence of children expressing themselves perhaps for the first time.
In Room 56 of Hobart Boulevard School, year by year, kids are introduced, through drama, literature, music, math and travel, to some of the possibilities that hard work can bring. Alongside Shakespeare posters and a shield for each of the Hobart Shakespeareans productions, Rafe Esquith has placed a banner with his central tenet - "There Are No Shortcuts."
For more about this unique class and teacher and their activities - http://www.hobartshakespeareans.org/