The roster of summer institute fellows in 2021 and 2022 included twenty-five English language arts teachers hailing from more than twenty U.S. states.


Layla Aldousany, Ph.D., 2021 fellow, teaches English and American studies to high schoolers at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, NC. She offers two semester-long courses—Shakespeare Now, as well as a British literature course in which she also includes Shakespeare.

Joshua Anderson, M.Ed., 2021 fellow, teaches English at Milwaukee Rufus King International High School in Milwaukee, WI. He has taught several of Shakespeare’s plays during the last 21 years. Most often he has guided his students through MacbethHamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Trianna Anderson, M.A.T., 2022 fellow, taught English at Lakeside High School in DeKalb County, GA. During that time, she incorporated Romeo and Juliet into her lessons. As a special education teacher, she saw firsthand how students living with disabilities could also enjoy and thrive while exploring Shakespeare’s works.

Ryan Berry, M.A.T., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th and 10th grade English at Chattahoochee High School in Johns Creek, GA. In the last two years he has taught MacbethRomeo and JulietRichard III, and The Tempest to his students. He has also taught Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, which has many references to Shakespeare’s work.

Matt Bolton, Ph.D., 2021 fellow, is a 10th grade English teacher and head of the upper school at The Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, OH. He has been teaching Shakespeare’s works since the 90’s, when he was a member of Teach for America. He has learned the importance of rewriting scenes in contemporary language for students.

David Bucknell, M.S.T, 2021 fellow, teaches English and creative writing to students in grades 10-12 at Kapolei High School in Kapolei, HI. He has incorporated the Folger Method to effectively engage students in direct interaction with Shakespeare’s works through saying, acting, blocking, and staging the words as directors would.

Lisa Byrd, M.L.A., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th-12th English, theater, and other subjects at Glen Rose High School in Malvern, AR. Through her long teaching career, she has guided students through at least seven of Shakespeare’s plays. In the process, she has focused on the themes of love/hate, truth/lies, and power dynamics.

Brin Charek, B.S, B.A.C., 2021 fellow, teaches English and drama/theater at Tallmadge High School in Tallmadge, OH. Shakespeare’s works are a staple in her curricula. She has played several Shakespeare roles on the stage. As an educator, her hope is to ignite the same passion and confirm the relevance of Shakespeare’s plays.

Christopher Cleary, M.P.M., 2022 fellow, teaches English at Cambridge High School in Milton, GA. He is a published novelist and playwright who presents workshops on writing audio dramas (radio plays). Writing on the Wall was his first published piece and one of his school accomplishments was the student-directed staging of his work “The Harsher.”

Emily D’Amico, M.A., 2021 fellow, is an English, public speaking, debate, and research writing teacher at Oakland Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, PA. She has guided her students through three of Shakespeare’s plays. Through that, she has learned the value of being an English teacher and trained reading specialist.

Emma Daklouche, M.A.T., 2022 fellow, teaches literature and composition honors, as well as AP literature and composition to 9th and 12th grade students at South Forsyth High School in Cumming, GA. As part of her lessons on Shakespeare she has taught Romeo and Juliet and Othello. Her strategy is to draw parallels to contemporary works.

Allie Donahue, M.Ed., 2022 fellow, teaches 8th and 9th grade English at the Lincoln School in Providence, RI. She has taught Shakespeare by using graphic novels, acting out scenes in the classroom, and through viewings of live productions. Her strategy has been to assign roles that target each student’s expertise.

Anders Drewry, Ed.D., 2021 fellow, teaches 7th and 10th grade English at St. Albans School in Washington, DC. In the past 20 years he has included a variety of Shakespeare texts in his classroom, including most recently The Comedy of Errors and Romeo and Juliet, and he has offered Shakespeare elective classes as well.

Asha el-Shair, B.F.A., 2022 fellow, teaches high school theater to 9th-12th graders at Kipp Atlanta Collegiate in Atlanta, GA. Since her early days teaching Shakespeare’s plays to advanced theater students, she has been able to find greater connections between Shakespearean works and modern forms of artistic expression—namely hip-hop.

Courtney Fetters, B.A., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th and 11th grade English at Decatur High School in Decatur, GA. Through the years she has taught a number of Shakespearean plays (and sonnets) to a diverse group of students—including ESOL pupils. Among them are A Midsummer Night’s DreamHamletJulius Caesar, and Macbeth.

Stephanie Gonzales, M.A., 2022 fellow, is a middle school literature teacher at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic School in Vienna, VA. She has taught Shakespearean sonnets and plays to her students, and she also founded the Shakespeare after-school club that performs every year at the Diocesan Shakespeare Festival.

Nikkia Grant, M.A.T., 2022 fellow, teaches 10th grade English at Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia, GA. Through the years she has taught Julius CaesarMacbethRomeo and Juliet, and Othello. In some of her lessons, she has focused on the themes of persuasive techniques, fate versus freewill, and the great chain of being.

Erica Haglund, M.Ed., 2021 fellow, is an English, public speaking, and debate teacher at Poinciana High School in Kissimmee, FL. Over the years, her 10th grade Shakespeare curricula has included MacbethJulius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet. For a while now, she has used digital teaching, learning, and storytelling in her classes.

Lora Hawkins, Ph.D., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th-12th grade English and poetry at The Franklin School of Innovation in Asheville, NC. Over the years, she has taught a handful of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets and enjoys getting her students to move from the initial panic of reading old texts to actively engaging in meaningful discussions.

Ashley Hollins, M.Ed., Ed.S., 2022 fellow, teaches 11th and 12th grade English at Tri-Cities High School in East Point, GA. As part of her AP English literature and composition curriculum, she had a successful first attempt at teaching Romeo and Juliet. She hopes to bring more Shakespearean texts into her classroom.

Natalie Holt, M.A., 2021 fellow, teaches 8th-12th grade English and drama/theater at The June Buchanan School in Pippa Passes, KY. In addition to teaching the standard Shakespearean works (Romeo and JulietMacbeth, and Julius Caesar) she has also guided her upper-level students through the more complex Hamlet and King Lear.

David Hungerford, B.A., 2022 fellow, teaches 12th grade English and other subjects at Tallmadge High School in Tallmadge, OH. Prior to that, he was an 11th grade English honors teacher. Throughout his teaching career he has taught Hamlet and Macbeth, with Othello being his curricular mainstay for the last seven years.

Angela Jackson-Selle, M.Ed., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th, 11th, and 12th grade English, history, and art at Paideia High School in Valley, WA. She has taught several of Shakespeare’s plays in her classroom and offers opt-in field trips to her students so they can experience live Shakespearean performances at community and college/university theaters.

Megan Kennedy, M.A., 2022 fellow, teaches 6th and 8th grade English at the Ensworth School in Nashville, TN. In the process of teaching Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream to her middle school students, she has incorporated the use of the No Fear Shakespeare side-by-side translations, which has been incredibly helpful to her younger students.

Helen Lau, M.B.A., 2022 fellow, currently teaches 11th grade English at Moanalua High School in Honolulu, HI. She has taught A Midsummer Night’s DreamOthello, and Hamlet to her students and sometimes uses Chinese translations of Shakespeare’s works as a tool in her process of unlocking more hidden meanings in the texts.

Lucia Lemieux, M.F.A., 2021 fellow, teaches English and creative writing at Newbury Park High School in Thousand Oaks, CA. She began teaching Shakespeare’s plays in 2005. Among her favorites is Julius Caesar. She finds many correlations between this play and contemporary political situations. She has also taught mass media and video production.

Breanne Lucy, M.S.Ed., 2021 fellow, teaches English to high school students at the Baxter Academy for Science and Technology in Portland, ME. She offers a Shakespeare seminar to juniors and seniors. She likes to encourage her students to make their own discoveries about the plays through performance, discussion, and close-reading.

Kelly McGuire, B.S., 2022 fellow, teaches 10th grade English at Katy High School in Katy, TX. While she prefers to teach contemporary works, she also believes that Shakespeare’s works have much to offer concerning the modern human condition. In the past she has taught Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet.

Asia Meana, M.A.T., 2022 fellow, teaches 10th and 12th grade ELA and AP Literature at Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy in Atlanta, GA. She grew up with a deep respect for Shakespeare. She has directed her own theatrical work, titled Scape, as the 2022 artist in residence with Fly on a Wall.

Claire Mikeson, M.A., 2021 fellow, is a 12th grade English teacher at The Billings Career Center in Billings, MT. During her five years as an educator, she has taught Shakespearean dramas to students in grades 9-12. Her students generally read contemporary works in tandem with Shakespeare to build their understanding of current social issues.

Lauren Miskin, Ph.D., 2021 fellow, teaches middle school English at The Hockaday School in Dallas, TX. She enjoys engaging her students emotionally and intellectually and spends the first few weeks of every Shakespearean lesson discussing the plot and closely reading key passages. She also helps them dive into strategic construction of literary devices.

Colleen Quirk, M.Ed., 2022 fellow, teaches English, theater, and other subjects to 9th-12th graders at CAST Med High School in San Antonio, TX. She has taught Romeo and JulietMacbethA Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet. Her approach is to teach through the process of viewing the plays while concurrently following them with the text.

Hannah Ritorto, Ph.D., 2021 fellow, was a secondary English literature and composition teacher at Lakeview Academy in Gainesville, GA, where she taught several of Shakespeare’s works. Since the fall of 2021, she has been teaching secondary English and creative writing at The Weber School in Sandy Springs, GA.

Sarah Roquemore, B.A., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th and 10th grade English at The Weber School in Sandy Springs, GA. She previously worked as a drama teacher at a performing arts center, but her focus is now on teaching Shakespeare to non-actors. Last year she taught Romeo and Juliet and Othello to her students.

Blair Rostolsky, M.Ed., 2021 fellow, is a 9th grade English and special education teacher at Decatur High School in Decatur, GA. As a primary and collaborative educator, she has embedded Shakespeare’s works into lessons, activities, and games to engage her students. Her Shakespeare-driven curricula make lessons in the texts accessible to her students.

Marie Sarnacki, M.Ed., 2021 fellow, teaches English at South Lyon East High School in South Lyon, MI. As part of her curriculum, she spends about a month and a half with her students on Romeo and Juliet. She also plans to introduce them to Hamlet. She has also enjoyed using many of the hands-on lessons in the book Shakespeare Set Free.

Annalee Sellers, Ph.D., 2021 fellow, teaches 9th and 12th grade English at Whitefield Academy in Smyrna, GA. Throughout her career she has served as a teacher, mentor, and resident advisor at the high school and college levels. She has taught Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Oedipus Rex, as well as García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

McKenna Sloan, M.Ed., 2021 fellow, teaches English, drama/theater, and film criticism at Woodmont High School in Piedmont, SC. One of her greatest moments teaching Shakespeare to her students was the realization that they had no problem seeing the relevance of his works, but that she needed to help them appreciate the florid language.

Jordan Smith, M.Ed., 2021 fellow, teaches English at Muriel Williams Battle High School in Columbia, MO. In the classroom, he is intentional about using digital storytelling and folk literature to supplement the reading of Shakespeare’s works. He also runs an after-school recording studio program in which he assigns audio storytelling projects to his students.

Kayla Stockton, M.A., 2021 fellow, is a 9th and 11th grade English teacher in Powder Springs, GA. She believes that accessible lessons are integral to student success and that digital storytelling helps students build their own literary space. She also strives to overcome the challenges of classical works with limited female and racially-diverse characters.

Diane Stubbins, M.A., 2021 fellow, is a high school English and journalism teacher at Fuqua School in Farmville, VA. Rather than teach Shakespeare’s works through mere analysis, she employs engaging strategies like skit writing—which encourages student interactions with the plays. She also leads an annual visit to the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA.

Elyse Tussey, B.A., 2021 fellow, teaches 9th-12th grade drama/theater at Chicago Bulls College Prep in Chicago, IL. One of her classroom strategies is to use Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to teach her students how to analyze plot structure, dramatic text, and characters. She also uses his works to encourage analyses through monologues and play scenes.

Greg Tuttle, B.S., 2021 fellow, teaches English, public speaking, creative writing, and Shakespeare 101 at Holly Springs High School in Holly Springs, NC. He has taught Macbeth to seniors for decades, and has also introduced students to twenty-one Shakespearean plays. He has also been teaching a stage-driven Shakespeare course since 2004.

Jane Wanninger, Ph.D., 2021 fellow, teaches English at Bard Academy, part of Bard College in Great Barrington, MA. Previously she taught at the college level. Through her Shakespeare lessons, she builds students’ enthusiasm for the richness of his language—while nurturing their curiosity for the ways in which the dramas become alive through performance.

Nicole Weintraub, M.S., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English at Morehead High School in Eden, NC. She has taught Romeo and JulietA Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Julius Caesar in her classes, and has used comparison of plays, deep discussions, and historic references to support her Shakespearean lessons.

Marissa Wickersheim, M.A., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th-12th grade English and creative writing at the American Embassy School of New Delhi in Delhi, India. Since she started teaching, she has incorporated Shakespeare into her English lessons. She has taught Romeo and JulietMacbethKing LearOthello, and Julius Caesar.

Kelly Wolfe, M.F.A., M.A., 2022 fellow, teaches 11th grade English and other subjects at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Prior to this, she taught Shakespeare’s works at Johnson & Wales University in North Miami—including A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet.

Mike Womack, M.Ed., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th-12th grade English and creative writing at Alpharetta High School in Alpharetta, GA. He has taught Shakespeare’s Romeo and JulietMacbeth, and The Tempest. He once lived in the Middle East, where he taught Romeo and Juliet and produced a student-faculty production of the play.

Bethany Wonch, M.A., 2022 fellow, teaches 9th-12th English and other subjects at Insight School of Washington, a full-time online public school for K–12 students in that state. She has guided her students through Shakespeare’s sonnets, as well as Hamlet and Twelfth Night, to examine his form, themes, and relevance in the context of contemporary life.

Denise Wood, B.S., 2021 fellow, is an English and reading teacher at the Union Grove High School in McDonough, GA. She has an academic background in theater and has managed to engage her students by tying in the universal themes of love, loyalty, and rebellion—central issues in the lives of teenagers.