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Shakespeare in Schools

The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s Education Programs aim to provide exposure, education, and experience with Shakespeare’s craft to all St. Louisans.

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Workshops and Guest Performances

Engage Students through Guest School Performances

  • Following the legacy of the Festival Education Tours, student and professional performers take abridged Adaptations of Shakespeare’s works on the road! These productions are tailored to student audiences, full of wholesome humor and helpful presentations of Shakespeare’s lengthy plots. 

Enliven Classrooms through Guest Teacher Led Units

  • Whether your Shakespeare curriculum has been long established, just developing, or you’re hoping to engage your students more deeply, the Festival is eager to share its joyful and meaty curriculums that illuminate Shakespeare’s Secret Codes and Poetic Genius from the differing perspectives of illiterate groundling, romantic noble, and working actor!

Exercise and Educate Student Performers through Workshops

  • Shakespeare’s genius becomes immediately evident when students are UP speaking his words! But Acting is already a nebulous task, let alone with archaic phrases and poetry! 

  • The Festival’s workshops are designed to equip actors with concrete tools to take advantage of the Secret Acting Codes Shakespeare wove through his lines. Practical methods and exercises are used to empower students to trust their instincts, make choices they can be confident in, and cease “strutting and fretting their hour upon the stage!? 

Available Workshops

Shakespeare Themes and Memes: An interactive assembly-style performance, synopsizing Shakespeare’s play using modern memes, expounds upon its key themes, and pulls teacher and student volunteers into the action! Target audience: Late elementary through high school.

Shakes 101: Reinvigorate your classroom’s Shakespeare units with hands-on exercises and secret Shakespearean actor-codes. With tailored curriculums for ELA, Literature, History, and Drama classrooms, this flexible program provides 4th-12th students and teachers with a concrete on-ramp into reading, understanding, and relishing Shakespeare’s language.

Shakespeare Shenanigans – This workshop provides a fun and regulating hour session for participants with disabilities. Utilizing adaptive strategies and drama therapy techniques, participants will experience their own agency in creating characters and stories using simple phrases from Shakespeare’s texts.

To book a touring show, guest teacher appearance, or workshop – contact Education Coordinator Hannah Baartman at hannah@stlshakes.org 

More Information on Workshops

Shakespeare School Residency Programs

The STL Shakes education team partners with St. Louis schools to create a teach elective and after-school Shakespeare classes/clubs, culminating in a school community centered performance and increased student/family retention, investment and spirit!

Our Education Team creates Shakespeare Programs unique to a partnered school’s needs, values, and communities.

Over the course of a semester, the Festival’s Education Team administrates, teaches, and directs an abridged Shakespeare play with a school’s students – providing opportunities for students to develop their sense of accountability, collaboration, and literacy skills, which are then celebrated in a performance for fellow students, teachers, parents, and community!

These programs have met with great success in:

  • Schools both with and without theater programs

  • Grades 4-6th, Middle Schools, and High Schools

  • Public and Private schools

  • Secular and Religious Schools

To learn more about how this program could engage your students, contact Hannah Baartman at

hannah@stlshakes.org.

Contact Hannah Residency Flyer

Additional Education Programs

Summer Shakespeare Studio Teen Green Show

Test your Shakespeare Knowledge! 

Take a quiz for your favorite Shakespeare plays. 

Quizzes

In the Schools

  • "I caught him reading his script at night before bed, and he even brought it to church to read during the sermon. He never reads anything!” - Parent
  • "I've never laughed so hard in my life. The kids did a great job.” - Community Member
  • "It was really cute to watch [my daughter] getting so in to it- I think just that has already been a huge accomplishment.” - Parent
  • “Honestly, I couldn't be happier with this program. Hannah Baartman is so good at what she does it blew me away. I'm a teacher, but not at SCCS, and I know how much skill and effort goes into what she did with these students. Hats off.” - Parent
  • “I feel good about this show because I have the best teacher. My favorite experience is getting to be in the show.” - Actor age 9
  • "Thank you again for working with them! It’s fun to see [my daughter] enjoy this process when she had previously dreaded it!” -Parent
  • "Thanks so much for all the time and effort you put into creating this tremendous experience for the kids. {My son} came home beaming and proud of what he and his classmates were able to accomplish. Your efforts made this possible! My son and daughter adore you. My youngest is currently in 1st grade -- he's already looking forward to Shakespeare in 4th grade!” - Parent
  • "Very impressed and grateful to you. What a cool experience you provide to the class and appreciate your fun, all-in approach!” - School Administrator
  • "I can't submit this without giving a specific shoutout to [the teaching artist]. She takes her role above and beyond at every single rehearsal. Not only does she have a deep knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare itself, along with acting knowledge and experience, but she is able to clearly communicate with the kids in a clear and warm way. They LOVE her, and they know she loves them. And because of that relationship, they love Shakespeare and acting! I could say so much more, but the long in short is that she is a gift to our school.” - Parent

Meet the Staff

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Education Manager

Hannah Baartman

Hannah Baartman is a St. Louis theatre educator and performer with a deep well of inspiration in Shakespeare. She has performed with various St. Louis theatres, including The MUNY, Metro… Read More

Hannah Baartman is a St. Louis theatre educator and performer with a deep well of inspiration in Shakespeare. She has performed with various St. Louis theatres, including The MUNY, Metro Theatre Company, and the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, as well as Shakespeare’s Globe in London. As Education Manager at the Festival, she is dedicated to developing programs that use the disciplines of Shakespearean stage-craft and poetry to promote literacy, community, and personal growth. As a Teaching Artist, Hannah (Mrs. Bard) intentionally crafts each class or rehearsal session to equip and encourage students to enjoy their work and embrace the people working alongside them. 

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Education Coordinator

Mary Heyl

Mary Heyl is a St. Louis native who has worked as an actor and theatre practitioner all around the Midwest. Her love for Shakespeare began back in elementary school when… Read More

Mary Heyl is a St. Louis native who has worked as an actor and theatre practitioner all around the Midwest. Her love for Shakespeare began back in elementary school when she saw the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival Education Tour of “The Tempest.” From there, she went on to gain her BFA from Millikin University and accreditations in drama therapy from City Lit in London. Her acting credits within the Shakespeare canon include: Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (Hoosier Shakespeare Festival), Paulina u/s in The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare Project Chicago), Posthumous/Cloten in Cymbeline (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival), Bottom in A Late Summer Night’s Eve (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival), and Cassio in Othello (Festival 56). Mary is a passionate advocate for the special needs community and has worked in a number of theatres to increase their inclusivity for disabled actors. Currently, Mary is a program director at Orange Pediatrics for autistic kids in Chicago where she practices drama therapy techniques. Outside of acting, Mary is a visual artist and passionate Anglophile who can, at any moment, be found sipping earl grey tea and reading Jane Austen.

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Teaching Artist

Kalani Cing

Despite her degree being in Musical Theatre, Shakespeare was what first drew Kalani Cing into theatre. Since graduating in 2024, she has dived head first into the world of the… Read More

Despite her degree being in Musical Theatre, Shakespeare was what first drew Kalani Cing into theatre. Since graduating in 2024, she has dived head first into the world of the Bard, not just performing, but teaching as well. Now working on her second year teaching, Kalani has found herself learning as much from her students as they do from her (whether it be the wonderfully creative ways they embody the text, or the silly internet trends that she is now apparently “too old” to understand)!

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Teaching Artist

Sabrina Furman

Sabrina Furman is a Speech and Theatre Educator with extensive experience working with young performers and students of all ages. She has taught in improv, performance, and early childhood arts… Read More

Sabrina Furman is a Speech and Theatre Educator with extensive experience working with young performers and students of all ages. She has taught in improv, performance, and early childhood arts education through Stages Performing Arts Academy and the Our Savior Early Childhood Center. As both an educator and theatre artist, Sabrina has worked as an actor, sound designer, crew member, and stage manager with organizations including Missouri Baptist University, Lifelight Youth Theatre, and the New Jewish Theatre. She is passionate about creating encouraging, imaginative learning environments where students feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.