Students address peers at school fest

A struggling reader's worst fear is reading in front of a large audience.

But what happens if it's an audience of his peers specifically invited to hear him read?

He excels.

At least, that's what Virginia Harper of South Fort Myers High School said happened to her students during the first Shakespeare Festival.

"We turn reading into a way to encourage them to perform it," said Harper, who organized the daylong festival that included Shakespeare readings and self-written poems. "They read better for their peers and all I ask is for them to try."

Trying for the students meant two weeks of rehearsals for the show that hosted 150 students in each period throughout the day.

"This sparks their interest in reading and I want them to be able to do what the advanced students are doing," said Harper, who began organizing the event to hopefully lower the dropout rate. "These students have a high risk of dropout and some has to do with their inability to read."

That's why the festival infuses students with confidence and a sense of belonging.

"A lot of kids traditional things haven't worked so anything you can do to get them through the program," said Tommy O'Connell, the school's principal. "If they are interested, they are more involved ... we can't afford to have them not graduate."

Students during the show were also given an opportunity to dedicate the show to Felix Macedo, a student who died in a motorcycle crash. Macedo had participated in a Halloween festival hosted by Harper two years ago.

"The students are very supportive of each other and it seems that when they get here ... they all want to read in public," Harper said about her 45 intensive reading students. "They feel included when they read Shakespeare."