Charlestown High School
Shakespeare Project

Profile:
Charlestown High School Shakespeare Project

A new program is unfolding at Charlestown High School (CHS). Since 1982, there have been internships, mentoring opportunities, the School-to-Work program and even a new math excellence program for CHS students because of the Liberty Mutual/CHS partnership. So what is this new endeavor? This year, 15 students and four teachers will make connections to the powerful and resonant themes of Shakespeare’s 16th-century play The Merchant of Venice, with help from the Actors’ Shakespeare Project (ASP). It’s a challenge that excites the ASP artists—and CHS students and teachers are up to the test.

A Boston-based company of resident actors who perform Shakespeare’s plays in found spaces around the city, ASP believes that Shakespeare’s words are urgent and relevant to the world we live in today. This meshes well with the primary goal of the CHS project, which is to use language arts—Shakespeare in particular—to increase the students’ literacy, as well as their social, cognitive and life skills. ASP founding member Bob Walsh is working directly with the participants at CHS, and he’s getting rave reviews. Tenth grader Shena Diaz says, “Bob is experienced, energetic and very enthusiastic. He makes what we do fun.”

Making Shakespeare accessible and creating ways for students to meaningfully connect with the language form the cornerstone of the program. Ranny Bledsoe, CHS principal, says “Bob is so dynamic and great with our kids. One student, Laura Shavers, said she had never done anything like that and it really opened her eyes. That’s exactly what we want to hear from our students, because it shows that the project is having an impact.”

The Shakespeare project at CHS adds a new dimension to the portfolio of student programs. More than just a play, it carries the Liberty/CHS tradition of helping students build a strong work ethic, work effectively in a group, gain a command of the English language and build a sense of accountability for their lives.