Shakespearience Renaissance Festival held in Spencer-Van Etten

On Wednesday, May 30 from 6 to 7:15 p.m., the Spencer-Van Etten 9th graders presented the 16th Annual Shakespearience Renaissance Festival in the high school cafeteria and auditorium.  

Eighty 9th graders dressed in 16th century European garb and presented food, scenes from “Romeo and Juliet,” jousting videos, weapons, Shakespeare’s life, music, clothing, architecture, shields, catapults, trebuchets and masks. During the evening, courses of food were offered including bread, ham, desserts and pottage to the roughly 300 people present.  

Food etiquette during the 16th century was discussed; some people even ate with their hands to be in keeping with the time period being depicted.

This project was the culmination of a four-week Shakespeare project. During this time, students wrote acrostic poems and read “Romeo and Juliet.” Students also researched the Elizabethan time-period highlighting Shakespeare’s life, the Globe Theatre, and the context / norms of that time in England writing multiple paragraphs.  

Reading Romeo and Juliet was a favorite part of the project for many students.  Literary terms such as aside, soliloquy, alliteration, assonance, oxymoron, and onomatopoeia were taught in context just to name a few. Students also learned about the language of the period.  

Students were originally given a project packet that included the various parts of the project with expectations and course, program, and district outcomes being addressed after taking a distant learning live fieldtrip to the Globe Theatre last month. Guidance, instruction, and ongoing feedback throughout the project enabled success for the students involved.  

The energy and effort put forth by the students was prevalent during their culminating community presentation.  Mr. Dove, Mr. R. Miller, and the entire 9th grade thank Haefele Television, the Ithaca Journal, and the Random Harvest for publicity.  

Barb Bailey, Britany Elsey, Sally Marx, and Jay McIntosh were all instrumental in supporting students throughout the project. Also, a note of thanks to all the parents who spent time making costumes, making food, making videos, making boards, making catapults, and enabling their students to be actively engaged in the learning process. This project was another huge success.