Folger Shakespeare Company Welcomes Twenty-Four School Teachers from Across the United States for Teaching Shakespeare Institute

The Folger Shakespeare Library is proud to announce the 24 middle and high school teachers who participated in the Folger’s 18th Teaching Shakespeare Institute (TSI) from July 8–July 19, 2024.

Funded by the National Endowment for Humanities, this year’s TSI was the first in-person since 2018
and was held at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, home to the largest Shakespeare collection in the world. The Folger reopened in June 2021 after four-year renovation to reimagine itself as a more welcoming and accessible arts and culture complex, adding 12,000 square feet of public space that includes exhibition halls to a historic building that houses America’s first Elizabethan-style theater.

This year, 175 teachers applied for TSI. The 24 teachers selected to participate worked closely with leading scholars, accomplished Folger classroom teachers, and Folger staff in a rigorous exploration of The Taming of the Shrew and Othello. During the two weeks, teachers participated in: daily lectures from leading scholars, generative seminars, studio classes on performance, consulting rare books and materials from the Folger’s extensive collection, and curricular workshops on bringing all of this into their classrooms. The teachers explored the Folger’s new exhibition halls and operated the Folger’s printing press, a functioning replica of a 17th-century design that would have been used to print the earliest copies of Shakespeare’s works, in a printing workshop with a master printer.

“Teaching Shakespeare 2024 brings together a group of teachers who teach all kinds of kids in many different kinds of schools—public, independent, charter, religious. Their diversity of classroom experiences is what makes Teaching Shakespeare so productive, fun, and dynamic,” shares Peggy O’Brien, Director of Education. “They are an energetic, industrious, committed group who will go back to their classrooms ready to immerse their students in new, active ways to connect with Shakespeare.”

Each of the 24 selected teachers from 16 states and the District of Columbia received a stipend for travel, lodging, and expenses from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Participants also have the opportunity to earn graduate credits from Trinity Washington University.

“At the Folger, we know that middle and high school teachers do some of the most important work on
Earth,” O’Brien states. “In Teaching Shakespeare, we work with teachers on ways that all students can connect with Shakespeare and other literature in exciting and accessible ways, and that helps them confidently explore, navigate, and make their own discoveries within the plays rigorously and meaningfully.”

The teachers participating in the 2024 Teaching Shakespeare Institute include:

California
Chanti Burnett, Animo South Los Angeles Charter High School

Florida
Andrea Finkle, DeLand High School
Hayley Fernandez, Doral Academy Preparatory
Gabriel Vazquez, Alonzo & Tracy Mourning Sr. High School

Georgia
Mary Mitchelson, P.B. Ritch Middle School

Illinois
Holli Van Zandt, Morgan Park High School

Maryland
Casey York, High Point High School

Massachusetts
Matt Murphy, Ursuline Academy
Sorayo Santos, Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers

Nebraska
Abby Magers, Elkhorn South High School

Nevada
Jen Rodis, Centennial High School

Ohio
Kelsey Wright, Rutherford B. Hayes High School

Oklahoma
Laura McGuire, Laverne High School

Pennsylvania
Christine D’Emma, Science Leadership Academy at Beeber

South Carolina
Jessica Palumbo, Bridges Preparatory School
Larissa Bortz, Academic Magnet High School
Michele Trabold-Bellino, Airport High School

Tennessee
Julie Moorhead, Freedom Preparatory Academy High School

Texas
Isabel Flores-Schrange, Stephen F. Austin High School
Jayne Lawrence, High Point Academy

Virginia
Dorothy Graves, Falls Church High School

Washington, D.C.
Grant King, Washington International School
Jade Hage, Georgetown Day School

Wisconsin
Jillian Lyles, Milwaukee Academy of Science

Support provided by National Endowment for the Humanities:

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities
supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities
by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about
the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

About Folger Shakespeare Library:
       

The Folger Shakespeare Library makes Shakespeare’s stories and the world in which he lived accessible. Anchored by the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, the Folger is a place where curiosity and creativity are embraced, and conversation is always encouraged. Visitors to the Folger can choose how they want to experience the arts and humanities, from interactive exhibitions to captivating performances, and from pathbreaking research to transformative educational
programming. The Folger welcomes everyone to connect in their own way—from communities throughout Washington DC to communities across the globe. Learn more at www.folger.edu.

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