GC Shakespeare 26 PP

The 27th Annual PUSCH RIDGE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

Friday, May 1, 2026

PRCA Grammar Campus Shakespeare Festival Friday, May 1, 2026 3:30-6:30 pm - Festival on the Grammar Campus: K-4 plays (Times to be announced) Kindergarten - Maypole Dance 1st grade - “A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Song” 2nd grade - “Shakespeare for All Time - His Famous Quotes” 3rd grade - “What’s Thy Play?”

4th grade: Miss Lehardy: “Conversations with the Bard - Heroines of Shakespeare” Mrs. Brandt: “Conversations with the Bard - Heroes of Shakespeare” Renaissance-style games for the kids Food Trucks Fun & Fellowship 7:00pm - 5th grade plays in the Sanctuary of the Catalina Foothills Church: “SWEET DREAMS, SHAKESPEARE” A bedtime story featuring William Shakespeare’s A midsummer Night’s Dream & Julius Caesar, written & abridged by Amy Hart

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Director & 5th grade Teacher Advisor: Joy Bergendorff

Julius Caesar Director: Shauna Pinneo 5th grade Teacher Advisor: Jerel Green

Dear K-4 Grammar Families, It’s time for our Annual Shakespeare Festival, which is a cherished tradition at our school. If your family has been here for very long, you know this to be true. If you are new this year, we want to catch you up to speed with what is about to happen. Your students will remember this experience for many years to come. There will be hard work, there will be laughs, there will be teamwork. We need YOU - THE PARENTS - to help! Part of the camaraderie of this event is that parents pitch in to pull this off…from helping work on a planning team, to set-up day, supporting the event by attending, and then helping tear down.

Our Annual Shakespeare Festival is Friday, May 1 from 3:30-8:30 pm. The festival opens on the school campus from 3:30-6:30 pm, with performances and songs from our K-4th grades.

The festival continues in the Catalina Foothills Church sanctuary with the performance of the featured 5th grade plays from 7:00-8:30 pm.

The goal of this Annual Shakespeare Festival is to experience Shakespeare’s culture and times, his rich language, complex stories, timeless moral truths, and to perform selections from his works. It will be an experience for ALL AGES! This information is designed to help prepare you for what is to come. Please check the Week at a Glance and the teacher and class emails each week, so you will know how to plug in to help!

All for Christ and His Kingdom, Principal Christine Moon

Why Study Shakespeare?

By: Huntley Cooney Too much of a good thing, pomp and circumstance, dead as a doornail, wild-goose chase, “Knock! Knock?!Who's there?”, The be-all and the end-all, eat out of house and home, laughing stock, melted into thin air... Do any of these sound familiar? These are all phrases either invented or made popular by William Shakespeare. Altogether, Shakespeare has enriched our language by contributing hundreds of words and phrases, most of which we still use today. However, this isn't why we study Shakespeare at Cornerstone [Grammar Campus].

We study Shakespeare because he, perhaps more than any other writer, is able to show to us vividly and vicariously what it means to be human. Through his plays, we can rejoice in the triumph of Henry V, agonize over our guilt with King Lear, fall in love with Romeo and Juliet, revel in our silliness with Bottom and his friends, and grieve with Hamlet. By living through these characters we see what happens when we act heroically or wickedly and how the consequences affect ourselves and those around us. It is in learning these lessons that we find the greatest value in studying Shakespeare. If "all the world's a stage,” then these lessons are our dress rehearsal in preparing us to live out our own drama.

Most importantly, Shakespeare writes within a moral universe. His universal themes of friendship, love, loyalty and betrayal are all written against the background of Truth. Although his morals are not pointed and God is not frequently mentioned, the morals are there, as is God. No other writer has done what Shakespeare has done--painted ourselves and our world in a way that we recognize, yet that offers us hope. Indeed, as his friend Ben Jonson said of him, "He was not of an age, but for all time."

SHAKESPEARE

at the Grammar Campus

Wonderful parents,

We’re excited to be preparing for our upcoming Shakespeare Festival. It promises to be a memorable experience for your child(ren). This is only possible with the help and support of our parents - we really can’t do it without you!

The Shakespeare Festival offers numerous opportunities to serve and receive credit towards your family service goal for the school year. If you have already met your family goal, we still need your help! You can sign up, serve and donate your hours to another family, or we can designate extra hours on your behalf.

Sign ups will be opening soon. watch the Week at a Glance for links.

Weekend Work Days Sunday, April 12th from 1-4 pm Saturday, April 25th from 7:30 -9:30 am and/or 9:30-11:30 am Sign up now at GC Shakespeare Service Weekend 2026 Set up/Teardown Needs Week of Shakespeare (links coming soon in the WAAG) Game Set Up: (NHS students will operate and tear down after the festival) Catapulting Frogs Slingshot Targets (with ping pong balls) Bucket Ball Bubble Wands and Giant Bubbles Archery (suction cup arrows) and Ax Throwing (foam axes) New Game (TBA) Set up tents, tables, hang banners & pendants in tall places: This is a great opportunity for our dads.

Help decorate the campus: Put up banners, decorate the lunch area, patio and other areas of the campus with flags, greenery and florals.

Help set up, decorate and/or pack up the Shakespeare Museum: Help to set up and/or tear down Shakespeare-themed artwork from each class (K-5) in the Grammar Library.

Help set up signs before the festival in the parking lot and throughout the campus.

Festival clean up for 30 minutes after the Festival ends: Help stack chairs, pick up garbage, teardown & pack up tables,tents, decorations around campus & more from 6:30 - 7:00 pm on Friday, May 2. (you can do this while your kids stay on campus until you are finished.)

Help clean up, pack up and store Festival decorations, supplies, etc, for next year: The week after the festival, during a school day, we do a final sweep of the campus to tear down and pack up anything from the festival.

Shakespeare Festival 2026 Admission Fees To help us cover the cost of hosting this annual event we charge an admission fee for adults.

Wristbands are issued instead of tickets and must be worn to enter the Festival & 5th grade plays Pick up wristbands at Admissions Tables on the school patio prior to the start of the Festival DISCOUNTED ADMISSION for wristbands purchased by 3:00 pm monday, april 27 FESTIVAL PACKAGE All PRCA students are FREE (children 5 years old and under are free) $10 for Single Adult Admission for PRCA Parents, Grandparents, Friends & Family $40 for Unlimited Family & Friends for PRCA Parents, Grandparents, Friends & Family PERFORMANCE PACKAGE includes ONLY 5th grade plays at CFC All PRCA students are FREE (children 5 years old and under are free) $5 per Adult FULL PRICE ADMISSION for wristbands purchased from tuesday, april 28, through friday, may 1 FESTIVAL PACKAGE All PRCA students are FREE (children 5 years old and under are free) $15 for Single Adult Admission for PRCA Parents, Grandparents, Friends & Family $50 for Unlimited Family & Friends for PRCA Parents, Grandparents, Friends & Family PERFORMANCE PACKAGE includes ONLY 5th grade plays at CFC All PRCA students are FREE (children 5 years old and under are free) $10 per Adult

payment options OPTION A: CHECK Complete the Admissions payment form, attach your check and turn in to school office by 3:30 pm, Monday, April 27, for Discounted Fees; Full Price fees apply to all forms received between Tuesday, April 28, and Friday, May 1, at 12:30 pm. (Office closes at 12:30 pm) OPTION B: MYSCHOOLBUCKS FOR DISCOUNTED FEES ONLY by 3:00 pm on Monday, April 27 The service charge will be added to the admissions fee. Use link or QR code to purchase:

OPTION C: CREDIT CARD ACCEPTED IN OFFICE FOR DISCOUNTED & FULL PRICE ADMISSION FEES April 20 -May 1 at 12:30 pm. The service charge will be added to the admissions fee.

OPTION D: WAIT IN THE LONG LINE, IN THE HEAT, AT THE GATE AND PAY THE HIGHEST FEES before entering using check or credit card (service charge will be added to the admissions fee).

2026 Admissions Payment Form Check

Parent Name: _____________________________________ Cell phone: (___)_____________________ Name of child(ren): ______________________________________________________________________

DISCOUNTED Admission for Wristbands purchased by Monday, April 27, at 3:00 pm Festival Package (Includes all K-4 Performances, games and 5th grade Plays): All PRCA students and children under 5 are FREE $10/ Single Adult Admission #______________ Total: $______________ OR $40 Unlimited Family & Friends Pass Total wristbands needed: _______ Amount Due: $______________ Check #_________________ Performance Package (Includes ONLY the 5th grade plays at Catalina Foothills Church): All PRCA students and children under 5 are FREE $5/ Single Adult Admission #______________ Total: $______________

FULL PRICE Admission wristbands purchased between Tuesday, April 28 - Friday, May 1, at the gate Festival Package (Includes all K-4 Performances, games and 5th grade Plays): All PRCA students and children under 5 are FREE $15/ Single Adult Admission #______________ Total: $______________ OR $50 Unlimited Family & Friends Pass Total wristbands needed: _______ Amount Due: $______________ Check #_________________ Performance Package (Includes ONLY the 5th grade plays at Catalina Foothills Church): All PRCA students and children under 5 are FREE $10/ Single Adult Admission #______________ Total: $______________

Refreshments 2026 Shakespeare Festival 3:30-6:30 pm YOU SLY DOG variety of hot dogs, chips & sodas -accepts cash & credit cards-

TACO’QUETA burritos, tacos and quesadillas -accepts cash & credit cards-

WOW WOW LEMONADE Handcrafted Hawaiian Lemonades Best-selling Smoothie Flavors Acai Bowls-limited quantity while supply lasts -accepts cash & credit cards-

HANDEL’S ICE CREAM 4 flavor options in prepackaged cups -accepts cash & credit cards(gift cards accepted at storefront only)

COLD WATER BOTTLES $1 - 16 oz bottle All proceeds benefit Shakespeare Festival -Cash Only-

WATCH THE WEEK AT A GLANCE FOR MORE MENU & PRICING INFORMATION