Traditions and rituals help cement a school’s identity while signaling what a school values. This tradition has been a part of the school since the early 1960s, and the annual Shakespeare play is rite of passage for the eighth grade class. And while the play itself is a massive undertaking for these students, there are many important lessons that are taught along the way.

In fact, the Shakespeare play is a terrific example of fostering 21st century skills:

Collaboration & Teamwork
Communication Skills
Creativity

The Bard teaches us through this unique learning style. Obviously, we hone our communication skills – such as enunciation, projection, memorization – but we also learn to count on and support one another other under a unified goal. While we celebrate a job well done by these eighth graders as they perform the play, we must not lose sight of the strong lessons that will stay with these students long after they’ve left Powhatan. It’s just another example of how we live our mission; We learn not for school, but for life.