As a teacher and Drama instructor at one of the high schools that takes part in The Fall Festival of Shakespeare, I can vouch for the enormous benefit of this program to our students. Over the nineteen years I have been involved, I have seen countless numbers of students get so excited about being in a Shakepeare play that they can't wait for school to begin in the fall because it means auditions and rehearsal for the Fall Festival will soon be starting. Many of our students take part in the Festival as they are older students because they have heard so much about it, but many others start as freshmen, some as actors and some as technical crew, and grow into larger character or technical roles as they mature and gain confidence. The day after the Festival finishes, when we have our final meeting at school, called closure, the students express very emotionally what being involved in the Festival has meant to them. It is a day filled with tears, but of the best kind, because the tears acknowledge just how pleased they are to have had this experience, and how much they will miss this very special magical feeling of being on stage with a completely appreciative audience and castmates who have rehearsed together to the point of virtuosity. This program has become the most important part of the performing arts calendar at Springfield Central High School, and is a large part of what helped our school identify itself as a magnet school for the Arts.