It’s that time of year for the annual “Harlem Renaissance Play” led by sophomore history teacher, Jason Kirck. He started this project about ten years ago because he says students wanted to do something “more” and they wanted to demonstrate what they learned in a fun fashion. The project forces students to step out of their comfort zone and put on a play in front of their peers, depicting what life was like during the Harlem Renaissance.

There is only one winner–no ties–and the performance is part of their class grade. The winner receives an additional extra-credit assignment.

WHHS teachers and administrators serve as judges and watch the performance closely to determine a winner. They are scored on the following categories: group effort, group cohesion, and the “talent” of the performers.

Mr. Kirck said his students seemed to enjoy the assignment.

“Yes, the vast majority of students like the chance to use different learning strategies to express what they have learned,” he said.

Sophomore Madison Hobart said her class, period 4, won first place for the project.

“It was definitely fun but also super stressful,” she said.

Hobart said that in order to prepare for the performance they just made groups of people, separating them by which scene they were in and what they’d be performing.

“Then we put it all together on the last day and luckily it worked out,” she said.