Shakespeare comes alive at Prince of Peace school

Students at Prince of Peace Catholic School have the opportunity to participate in a long-standing tradition during their eighth-grade year: studying and performing William Shakespeare’s plays. 

Amy Everson’s eighth-grade world literature class will study and perform several plays throughout the year, which is their last year at Prince of Peace. This is a rite of passage at the school, and students take it seriously, said Prince of Peace Catholic Parish's Jill Spero. Seventh-grade students learn about Shakespeare’s life and the time in which he lived through his novels and stories. 

The chance to act out the plays is the “crown jewel” of the students’ two-year literary journey through Renaissance England, Spero said.

The productions are primarily student-led in order to give a chance for interpersonal communication and leadership skills development.

“The tradition is firmly rooted within the curriculum, a brightly lit torch eagerly anticipated and lovingly passed on in a ritual of student self-discovery and accomplishment,” Spero said.