Online school can definitely have its perks: being able to wear pajama pants, having thirty- minute breaks, and learning from the comfort of your own home. However, it also has its challenges, like being apart from your teachers and friends, getting distracted, and dealing with the unexpected, like having noisy dogs (or family members). 

For Ms. Kathleen Devine and her eighth-grade English students, the unexpected came in the form of having to work on their Globe Theater project from home. 

“I had originally intended to do this project in the STEM Center with creative materials I was supplying – reed grass, sticks, shells, wallpaper and material swatches,” said Devine, the Middle School’s English Department Chair.

The students were going to recreate a scale model of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a three-tiered structure built in 1598 to host the plays of the world’s most famous writer (yes, William Shakespeare), and other playwrights of the day. The project was assigned to help the students understand the importance of the Globe Theater at the time and its cultural significance during the European Renaissance. It was a project that would also tie in to their upcoming study of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

With TBS now in its third week of remote learning due to the coronavirus, things haven’t exactly gone as planned. Students had to create their versions of the theater with materials they were able to find at home, and then send in pictures of their completed structures to Devine. She plans to then make a slideshow to present their work so the students may see each other’s projects. 

Eighth graders such as Hannah Beam and Andrew Lappin are using anything and everything that they can find for the project. 

“My globe is made out of paper, pipe cleaners, and stickers,” said Beam.

“My globe is made out of paper birthday crowns, toilet paper rolls, popsicle sticks, and the case an iPhone originally comes in,” said Lappin.

Even though this assignment was originally meant to be a group  project completed in class, Devine is satisfied with the work they have done thus far.

“The diversity of materials used by my students rivaled the content of my classroom closet,” she said. “Globe Theatres have been reimagined with pizza pans, Legos, blocks, cake tins, boxes, and built accurately to reflect Shakespeare’s original theatre.” 

Not only are the students having to build a replica of the theatre, but they are also learning some engineering principles as they go. 

“I learned that the structure of it may not make it look sturdy, but it’s incredibly durable,” said eighth grader Natalia Cona. 

Even though her plans didn’t turn out as she wanted them, in true Benjamin fashion, Devine and her students resourcefully worked their way around the issue.