The ESU National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based education program. High school students develop analytical and communication skills by performing Shakespeare at the school, community, and national levels. Since 1983 more than 360,000 students have brought the timeless works of Shakespeare to life. 2024 marks the 40th year the ESU Kansas City Branch has participated in the National Shakespeare Competition. The Kansas City Branch has had two first place National winners, one second place National winner, and one third place National winner.
English in Action is a program that closely identifies with the needs of the growing immigrant population in Kansas City and throughout the U.S. English in Action pairs immigrant newcomers to the United States with fluent English speakers for one-on-one conversation sessions.
The ESU Kansas City Branch hosts many prominent authors and scholars including ESU’s own Evelyn Wrench Lecture Series named after our founder. These renowned British and American speakers present programs on a wide range of topics, including but not limited to, current events, history, language, literature, art, architecture, and travel.
In response to the COVID-19 world, in July of 2020 ESU members got together to introduce the virtual Happy Hour Program, which has been met with resounding success. The Happy Hour Program brings guest speakers from locations all over the world, live and free of charge using the Zoom format. And to make it a real happy hour, a few of the speakers suggest signature cocktails to match the theme for the attendees to create and enjoy at home during their presentations. Many speakers also offer exciting participation opportunities with fun give-away books and products at the end of each program. All Happy Hour events are recorded and available for download to members and anyone interested to watch on-demand.
Since 1957, the ESU has provided summer study abroad scholarships to middle and high school teachers at Oxford, Edinburgh and Shakespeare’s Globe in London.
