The magic of the Hobart Shakespeareans

The floor was shaking, bouncing up and down. Really hard.  As the floor moved up and down so vigorously, I wondered how good the building construction was and whether the second floor classroom was about to make a sudden drop onto the first floor.

An earthquake? No. A roaring version of  ‘Loveshack,’ performed by elementary school students, rocking with electric guitars and dancing in wild choreography to lighting that would have made the Fillmore proud…all as part of  William Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It.’

HUH? Loveshack and Shakespeare?

Now if you assume that this unlikely combination played out in the classroom of an affluent school, you’d be exactly wrong. I was sitting (when I wasn’t bouncing) in one of the largest elementary schools in Los Angeles Unified School District, a school with a student population of more than a thousand students who come from mostly disadvantaged families and many of those students do not speak English as their native language.

Right. Loveshack and Shakespeare. It’s a perfectly logical pairing, when you’ve entered the amazing world of the Hobart Shakespeareans.

Taught by multi-award-winning educator, Rafe Esquith, these students defy all stereotypes of their backgrounds and excel in ways that make affluent schools green with envy. Esquith has written compelling books about his experience as a teacher in Room 54: “There Are No Shortcuts” and “Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire.” (Now really, how could anyone resist a title like that?)

Esquith opens the students' eyes to the opportunities that are available to them through hard work and good education. The walls of his classroom have banners from the many colleges that his students have attended. He travels with his students, showing them a country and a world outside their neighborhood, a revelation to many of these children.

From 6:30 in the morning until 6 in the evening, five days a week, Esquith and his students are busy learning. In fifth grade, his students learn algebra. They read copiously. They learn how to play music. And to top of the year, they perform an entire Shakespeare play and are so amazingly good that even members of the Royal Shakespeare Company pay them homage. They travel and perform. In addition, they are, without a doubt, the nicest group of kids you'd ever meet.

How do they do this? They work hard. This classroom is its own nonprofit organization, and needs benefactors who value great teaching, lofty goals, and a sense of being able to provide opportunity to kids who would not have it otherwise and who absolutely do not squander the opportunity given to them.

You can read more about the Hobart Shakespeareans at www.hobartshakespeareans.org (and you can catch some amazing video clips of their performances too).

Mary Kraemer writes for 50-something moms