LIBRARY NOTES
 
Rafe Esquith and the Hobart Shakespeareans
Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire
Monday, January 22, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Temple Israel, 112 East 75th Street
For over 20 years, Rafe Esquith has taught fifth grade at the Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles, where many students begin school unable to speak English, all students receive free lunch, and 92 percent live below the national poverty level. But Esquith's students also attend school six days a week, score in the top five to ten percent nationally in standardized tests, and go on to some of the best universities in the country. With them Esquith established the Hobart Shakespeareans, who perform Shakespeare's work through performance, song, and discussion around the world. This unique event will feature not only Esquith describing his remarkable teaching techniques, but also eight of his students giving brief musical and theatrical presentations.
Rafe Esquith is one of the few people to be honored by both Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama, and the only teacher to be awarded the president's National Medal of the Arts. The New York Times has called him "a genius and a saint."
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