High school students take on Shakespeare in the 10th annual English-Speaking Union Shakespeare Competition in the Great Room of the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines on Saturday, Feb. 23, from 10 a.m. to noon. This free event is sponsored locally by the Sandhills/ Pinehurst Chapter of the E-SU.

More than 200 students have competed in their schools for an opportunity to advance to the chapter level in this competition. The winner of the Feb. 23 competition will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to challenge competitors from more than 60 E-SU chapters.

The competition will be judged by Shakespeare and theater specialists from the North Carolina School of the Arts, Temple Theatre and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Each student must memorize and present a Shakespeare monologue and a sonnet. The students must present their monologues and sonnets in a professional manner, and the judges will base their evaluations on how well the students exhibit their understanding of Shakespeare.

The Sandhills/Pinehurst Chapter of the English-Speaking Union has as one of its primary goals the support of education programs in the schools.

In addition to the Shakespeare Competition, the chapter sponsors a middle school debate program in all the Moore County middle schools.

The English-Speaking Union of the United States is a nonprofit, nonpolitical educational organization whose mission is to celebrate English as a shared language to foster global understanding and good will by providing educational and cultural opportunities for students, educators and members.

Call (910) 692-6261 for more information about becoming a member or attending one of the E-SU dinner meetings.