Baden Academy Enriches Student’s Lives Through Shakespeare Baden, PA: As you wander down the hallways and peek into the classrooms of Baden Academy Charter School, you will hear and see thirty-three students avidly studying, analyzing and interpreting the words of William Shakespeare. For the past four months, the students in the theater enrichment program have been preparing to compete in the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s annual Shakespeare Scene and Monologue Contest and all of their hard work and dedication paid off. This year over 1,200 students in grades 4th – 12th from the Pittsburgh area competed on the O’Reilly stage and four of Baden Academy’s students; Adam Woods, Aleenia Reich, Joey Pugh and Zoe Mangus placed within the top five groups of their division. They went on to perform their scene from "The Comedy of Errors" in front of family, friends and other finalists at the O'Reilly on Monday night. Baden Academy was thrilled to learn that an additional ten students made the honorable mention list. “I’m so incredibly proud of all of our students” Johnny Gallagher, director of theatrical instruction and enrichment, said. “Experience in theater, including this highly respected Shakespeare Competition, develops essential skills like critical thinking, creativity, innovation and public speaking. It also increases the student’s self-confidence, and their sense of empathy.” Joey Pugh, a sixth grader at Baden Academy and one of the finalists in the competition says, “It was so much fun. I got to meet other actors my age. I was nervous at first but my teammates helped me so much. I was also really inspired by the judges and the speeches given at the end about following your dreams. I want to follow in their footsteps. The competition made me realize that I can really do this.” Baden Academy is a charter school built upon the idea of infusing and integrating the arts into everyday standard curriculum. Gallagher continued, “The arts are essential to helping our students succeed and create a well-rounded education. By having our students study Shakespeare they are not only studying theater and acting, they are studying some of the greatest characters and stories ever told; they are studying the development of the English language; the history of the Elizabethan and Renaissance world; the science of how Elizabethans built stages and special effects by using the technology of their day and how that has advanced through the years; and mathematics through the iambic pentameter presented in Shakespeare’s words. I’m so grateful to the Public Theater for hosting this event. Our students are exploring the power of Shakespeare’s language, and they are having a blast doing this and performing on one of the most beautiful stages in Pittsburgh.”
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