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Arts Commission News

Mississippi Arts Commission welcomes one of America's most celebrated teachers as featured instructor at Whole Schools Summer Institute

DATE:             May 30 , 2007

CONTACT:     Susan Dobbs, Public Relations Director                                       601-359-6031 or sdobbs@arts.state.ms.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

JACKSON— To say he has been a wildly successful teacher is putting it mildly.  In his classroom, known as Room 56, he teaches fifth grade children who live in a poverty-ridden section of Los Angeles and who are learning English as their second language. In the environment he has created, where Shakespeare and Vivaldi are part of the lesson plan, these students score in the top one percent on standardized tests and go on to Ivy League universities.

This highly acclaimed teacher, who The New York Times called “a genius and a saint,” teaches his students the importance of hard work and the courage to go their own way.   His success as a teacher made him and his students the subject of the outstanding PBS documentary, The Hobart Shakespeareans, a name he affectionately calls his students at Hobart Elementary School.   

Esquith’s recent book, Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire:  The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56, is a testament to his years of hard work and offers readers a hands-on look into his classroom and why he is so successful as a teacher.

“I would personally like to thank the well-known Mississippi artist, Bill Dunlap, for introducing me to Rafe’s book,” stated Judi Holifield, Director of MAC’s Whole Schools Initiative.  “Rafe epitomizes courageous teaching through the arts and we are honored to have him with us at this year’s Institute.”  Esquith will be a featured instructor on the opening day of the Institute (Sunday, July 15) and will give the Keynote Address that evening.

Approximately 300 teachers, artists and education administrators from more than 40 schools are registered to attend the Institute to be held on the campus of The University of Mississippi in Oxford July 15-19, 2007.  Register to attend at  www.mswholeschools.org.

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