During Friday's Community Time, the Upper Campus celebrated nine students participating in the Sierra Canyon Shakespeare Competition.
This annual contest, one of the School's hallowed, long-standing traditions, is an Upper School program that that feeds into the ESA National Shakespeare Competition, supporting students' growth in public speaking, critical thinking, and appreciation of literature. While honing their skills and meticulously rehearsing their performances, students begin to admire Shakespeare's exquisite language and timeless themes.
Upper Campus English Department members Anselm Chen, Mikael Romano, Jennifer Lichtman, Katharine Piller, and Dan Gvozden comprised this year's panel of judges. After captivating and memorable performances, Kamto N. '24 was selected as the 2024 ESU Sierra Canyon National Shakespeare Competition winner for the second consecutive year. Miranda L. '25 was chosen as the runner-up, while Shane L. '25 and Nova T. '25 tied for third place.
The ESU National Shakespeare Competition features over 20,000 high school students from across the country competing at the local, state, and national levels. Students compete at three levels to earn the chance to participate in a summer drama program by learning, memorizing, and performing monologues and sonnets written by Shakespeare. These consist of in-school events and community competitions hosted by ESU Branches, leading up to the national competition in New York City. Representing Sierra Canyon proudly, Kamto, who emerged as one of the two runners-up in last year's ESU Los Angeles National Shakespeare Competition Finals—will again compete in March, showcasing her impressive talent.
Please join us for a round of applause to this year's contestants: Sinead S. '25, Willow S. '25, Aiden G. '26, Zoe D. '26, Maggie D. '27, Kamto, Miranda, Shane, and Nova. You will see many of these talented student actors in our upcoming production, Something Rotten (March 7-12).
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