LIBRARY NOTES
 
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."
|