Last week, students at Joliet Catholic Academy celebrated William Shakespeare’s 449^th birthday with the annual Shakespeare Fest. Shakespeare Fest is a daylong event that invites students and staff to partake in many festivities throughout the day. Students dressed in Shakespearean garb, from simple tights with a flowing blouse to full blown Elizabethan dress.

Some of the highlights of the day were the Shakespeare “murder mystery” starring Othello and other well-known characters and a reading of Shakespeare’s famous “To Be or Not to Be” soliloquy. Reenactments, music, and skits were performed from a multitude of Shakespeare’s 37 plays, 154 sonnets and assorted poems. Of these, there was comedy and drama- the kind Shakespeare was so adept at making coming to life.

There was something different and perhaps even special about this year’s Shakespeare Fest, though. In as many years as the event has been in existence at JCA, this is the first year it has taken place since English teacher Sheila Fry’s retirement. Having begun the event, it was one of the things that everyone associated with her. However, Ms. Fry left Shakespeare Fest in excellent hands with Scott Allgood, with the support of the rest of the English department. Ms. Fry made a return trip to JCA for the event and you could see the delight on her face. As always, the students took ownership of the event to make it their own and their hard work was evident at every turn.

Shakespeare Fest was once again a great success and will continue to be a mainstay at JCA for years to come.