On April 10, 2017, Kentucky Shakespeare came to the Estill County Middle School and performed their Boy Meets Girl Meets Shakespeare program. Founded in 1949, Kentucky Shakespeare — a not-for-profit, charitable organization and professional theatre — is the oldest, free Shakespeare festival in the United States.  Designated the Official Shakespeare Company of the Commonwealth, Kentucky Shakespeare serves over 80,000 annually through the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park in the summer, educational outreach touring programs, and special community programming throughout the year. Other programs include Camp Shakespeare, annual Shakespeare in the Parks tour, Shakespeare in the Libraries tour serving all Louisville Free Public Libraries, and community center residencies. Kentucky Shakespeare has served over 1,000,000 students with in-school arts programs since its inception in 1990 in all 120 Kentucky counties and surrounding states.

This program was made possible through the collaboration of Delta Dental of Kentucky and Fund for the Arts.  The Estill County Middle School Youth Services Center had the opportunity to apply for grants that brought the Arts experiences to our students. Each of these programs is connected to Commonwealth of Kentucky’s core education content and complement what students are learning in classrooms.