Shakespeare

Why School Matters: The Importance of Education Today

/ Rebecca J. Whitman / 1 Comment

Let’s talk about why school matters (or if it does at all). This is something that I never used to question. In fact, it is something that students in general never questioned till recently. According to a recent survey, over 40% of high school students consider themselves disengaged now. I really blame Covid for that because everyone seemed to come back with an apathy for education and others like they just don’t care or want to care about anything beyond themselves. I’m not alone in this assessment either. A lot of research is showing that there has been a shift in students since Covid that is resulting in lower performance in schools. In short, kids don’t see why they should care anymore.

I think the best answer for why school matters is to imagine a world where school doesn’t exist at all. What would happen to our knowledge then? Would we read? Do our own math? Do any experiments? If so, how would we know what to do? I think the point of K-12 is that it is the foundation of everything else you will ever learn in life. You can’t read without the foundation of first learning how to read and why it is important. You can’t argue without someone teaching you how to articulate a good argument. You can’t make change in a restaurant without someone teaching you the basics of adding and subtraction.

All life boils down to what we know and how we apply it. Knowledge is power and creates true haves and have nots when people ignore or devalue it. We teach the past and a lot of things that are not happening now because those who do not know their past are doomed to repeat it. In literature, we teach the past because all other writing today builds upon the knowledge of the greats that went before us; we want to keep people knowing the foundations of what made us today. Some of my first poems were written in response to something Lord Byron said that angered me. I can’t imagine a world that doesn’t know or care about Byron or Shakespeare or any of the rest. 

There may be a lot of problems–and even some redundancy–in K-12 education today, but we still need it. K-12 education is all about teaching you how to be a human, how to know what the rest of us know, and how to contribute to society. Education gets more specific from here, but that base foundation is everything we all stand equally on. Without it, how can we hope to be a civilized society at all?

Southern Honor

/ Rebecca J. Whitman

For Ashley H.

Though she be but little, she is fierce.

William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

She commands a ship with one tiny frame, the rutter a finger pointing…

She solicits respect and reverence from peers and elders with a simple “sir” and “ma’am”…

The thick skin of determination built

through tears in times of weakness

did not stop her compassionate heart.

Generations of Celtic pride

and roots burrowed deep in Southern soil

can only describe her

they can’t define her.

She is beauty that doesn’t know it:

She’s unpretentious

but the pride of those that love her.

She is elegant and graceful

in a hoodie on the South side of town.

She doesn’t reserve her strength

for the glitz of a ballroom.

The road rises to meet her

Her burdens, now, are light

Favor opens doors before her

And all her futures are bright.

Uniquely R’s and The Gladstone: A Local Treasure Gives Culture to WCC Students

/ Rebecca J. Whitman / 2 Comments

Just beyond the curtain door at the back of a little shop, there is a special place for art and history in downtown Goldsboro, NC called The Gladstone. Dark wood walls and a crystal chandelier hanging from an antique tiled ceiling give this place a Golden Age feel. An upright piano frequently plays classical music and artists that serve coffee, tea, and pastries often sing along there. Occasionally a visitor pops in with his/her instrument, sits in one of the tall wingback chairs, and belts out a series of folk tunes.

The Gladstone
Katie and Michael cleaning up after our party

Making a place for artists and people to feel welcomed and inspired was part of the owner’s vision. Her welcoming heart is present in every creative display, quirky item selection, and ornate fixture. Uniquely R’s offers customers an opportunity to experience a richer culture than their own and buy things they couldn’t possibly find anywhere else. Guests are drawn in by the quaint, enchanting floral patio entrance. They are curious about what lies beyond the water fountain and tables. They come to support a local business, but they end up transported to another time and place. The Gladstone gives guests an opportunity to sit and soak in that different time and place; it is the pride of the shop, Uniquely R’s, and the heart of its owner, Ruth Glisson.

In such a place, I get big ideas.

As an English teacher, I always struggle with making British literature relevant to my students. They have a hard time grasping the concepts and language of classics like Austen and Shakespeare. They don’t understand Victorian customs and practices; all things British seem old and unnecessary to them. How could I make them see the beauty in a bygone era? How could I make them truly understand and love the classics they had to read? The answer: let them experience it.

My big idea: bring students to The Gladstone and let them experience a foreign culture firsthand. l mentioned the idea to Ruth Glisson, and she loved it. Many months later, a travelling show was set to come to Paramount Theatre and present “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged”. It was the perfect timing and opportunity to take my English 4 students out for a cultural experience. I wrote a grant to the Foundation of Wayne Community College, and got approved! I was never so proud as when I got to walk into Uniquely R’s and talk business with Ruth. The party we planned was special, but the end result exceeded my wildest imagination. On April, 16, 2016, nine students and myself were treated like royalty.

My students had just read Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, so we made a high tea themed around Pride and Prejudice. We had custom menus and music from the movie version–which we had watched in class–of the book. Courses came out in shiny tiered trays as the host (me) gave the nod to move forward. Ruth explained the history of tea and tea parties during the Victorian era as well as the history behind each food choice in our course. We began with savories then sweets with three drink choices along the way.

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The students were encouraged to dress up for the occasion. While some were not able to do so, others dressed up in suits, dresses, and hats. Regardless of their dress, every person there sat a little bit taller and prouder that night. They felt special…treasured…loved.

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Students looked around the store afterwards, and Ruth continued educating them on what different things were for. Many students said they would like to come back there again with their loved ones. Many of us lingered; we didn’t want to leave. However, we still had a play to attend.
The play was well attended and did a good job of making Shakespeare relevant and hilarious. I personally didn’t like seeing all the comedies of Shakespeare condensed into one story plot and the tragedies given full representation, but I expected something to be short changed in an abridged play anyways. I was thankful for the way the play made modern audiences laugh at Shakespeare the way they would have in his time. The intent of the lines–even the raunchiness at times–was not altered. As the three actors ran around the stage and in and out of costumes, we couldn’t help but laugh. 

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 Later, students would tell me that this event gave them the chance to “actually live the life style” and “examine the fine things that have been so well kept over the years”. Of the play, they said it “got into the love, pain, betrayal, and lies within the stories, but told (it) in a way…it would reach out to our…generation”. They liked the way the tea party and the play made them get involved with the literature and experience it first-hand. One student even said:

I thought it was the most beautiful night I’ve had in a long time and convinced me to go out and live my dreams as an actor or performer of some kind.

We English teachers hope to infuse the love of literature into our students. We want the words to come to life to them the way they do for us. The looks on my students’ faces that night said it had done just that. April 16, 2016 is a night we will never forget.

 

Much thanks to Uniquely R’s and the Foundation of Wayne Community College for making this experience possible.