Teacher will attend documentary encore

Rafe Esquith spent years developing a rapport with inner-city

students, devoting his career to convincing them the public school

system isn’t broken.

Esquith -- the Los Angeles teacher whose no-nonsense style is

captured in an hourlong documentary entitled “The Hobart

Shakespeareans” -- will be on hand to share his insights with the

audience tonight when the film is shown at the Orange County Museum

of Art.

The film begins at 8:30 p.m. on an outdoor screen as part of the

museum’s free Cinema Orange series, which is co-sponsored by the

Newport Beach Film Festival.

This is the third of seven films in the summer-long series, which

presents encore presentations of films shown at this spring’s

festival. “The Hobart Shakespeareans” won the award for an

outstanding achievement in a documentary.

“It stood out as one of the strongest documentaries,” said Leslie

Feibleman, a Newport Beach Film Festival outreach coordinator who

handles the Cinema Orange series. “The story is moving, especially as

a parent.”

This film follows Esquith, 51, and his fifth grade students at

Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in their quest to study and stage

Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

When Esquith entered the school, his project seemed unlikely to be

executed. Most students found literature uninspiring, and the school

district’s resources were scarce.

So Esquith took matters into his own hands.

“I never ask for permission from administrators,” Esquith said. “I

ask forgiveness. I’m a grown man. I know what my class needs.”

His solution: structured activities.

On top of teaching them advanced literature, Esquith took students

through an economic exercise in which they were charged rent for desk

space and had to pay him in classroom currency.

Students applied for jobs -- banker, clerk, police officer -- and

received a monthly paycheck. They could also collect money by earning

good grades.

Esquith said the method taught students to make prudent financial

choices, a habit that will serve them well in their adult lives.

In each of Esquith’s classes, a Shakespearean play is the

culminating project. Students arrive at class at 6:30 a.m. and don’t

leave until 5 p.m., sometimes making trips to school on the weekend.

“When they get to school, I’ve been there for an hour,” Esquith

said. “Kids see me walking through their neighborhood. I don’t have

to tell them to work hard -- they see it.”

Esquith shared this philosophy in a 2003 book, “There Are No

Shortcuts.”

Outsiders have noticed his work as well.

He was named teacher of the year in 1992 by the Walt Disney

Company.

Actor Ian McKellen is an unofficial sponsor of the class. Other

private donors have helped bankroll Esquith, who began by purchasing

supplies with money out of his own pocket.

The class also caught the attention of Hollywood director Mel

Stuart, who shadowed Esquith and his students for one school year to

make the film.

Stuart attended the initial Newport Beach Film Festival screening.

Esquith is scheduled to address the audience at the free event

tonight.

“Whenever possible, if there is a director or someone involved in

the making of the film, we want them to come,” said Karen Moss,

director of education and public programs at Orange County Museum of

Art. “We are lucky to have Rafe in attendance.”

Esquith said he is honored by the attention, though he credits

much of his success to “luck.”

“I’m a regular teacher, but I learn from mistakes and I work

hard,” he said. “I hope that inspires people.”