All 235 students at Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School got an education last month in the life and works of William Shakespeare, as the school celebrated its first in a year-long series entitled "Artist of the Month" on Oct. 13.

The wide variety of performances staged on the school's outdoor amphitheatre demonstrated the talent of the students and the creativity required of their teachers. Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Morgan's kindergarten students opened the Friday morning event with a condensed version of "Romeo and Juliet," while Ms. Hand's fifth graders ended the show with a rousing West Side Story-style dance interpretation of the same play, set to the tune of Michael Jackson's "Beat It."

In between, the rest of the students offered their own versions of "MacBeth" (Mrs. Fripp's second grade), "The Taming of the Shrew" (Mr. Ross's fifth grade), and a modified skit of the only place where Dr. Seuss and Shakespeare could possibly meet, "Green Eggs and Hamlet" (Ms. Riddell's and Ms. McGill's third-graders).

Ms. Parsons and Ms. Tafoya's first-graders did a presentation on the moons of Uranus, which are named after Shakespearean characters, Ms. Holland's second-graders presented famous quotes from a variety of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, and Ms. Varner's fourth-graders narrated and acted out a scene of what school life was like in Elizabethan England.

The middle school students spent the previous six weeks in intensive arts focus classes with an emphasis on the time period. Ms. Brylowe's visual art group did a performance art piece on unrequited love and tragedy, Mr. Brooks' music class performed a choral piece from the Latin Mass, and Mr. Boyles' drama students performed monologues from plays such as "Othello," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "The Merchant of Venice."

Through the "Artist of the Month" program, students of all ages at the school are involved in fun, arts-integration projects introducing them to important historical or contemporary performing and fine artists who've had a significant impact on our culture.

"Studying an artist like Shakespeare in a fun context at an early age makes him less intimidating when more intensive study is required down the road," says Sue Kemple, the artistic director at Sandhills Renaissance. "When hiring teachers for our school, we look for creative and imaginative professionals who have the ability to use the arts to bring someone like Shakespeare to life. That's the kind of faculty we have here."

Future artists include Mozart, Michelangelo, Louis Armstrong, Georgia O'Keefe, and Martha Graham.

Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School is a public school of choice for students in grades K-8 who are particularly interested in the performing and fine arts, and for parents who are interested in the benefits of an arts-integrated education. The school adheres to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study but presents the material in engaging and lively ways that address the learning styles of individual students and de-emphasize the stress of state-mandated standardized testing. Construction of a new 20,000-square-foot Renaissance-themed facility is well under way on the school's campus, in which the administration plans to expand its program offerings, both for enrolled students and during after-school hours for the greater community.

For more information, call the school office at 695-1004.