Ninth grade students from across Lower Merion School District recently demonstrated their complex understanding and interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet through the design of creative projects in the second annual "Golden Rose Awards" held in the Harriton High School auditorium. The ceremony brought together students from Harriton and Lower Merion to celebrate the hard work students put into their Shakespearean studies. The title of the ceremony itself comes from a combination of "The Golden Globes" and Shakespeare's famous line "rose by any other name."

Project categories ranged from scene reenactments and soundtracks best capturing the mood and tone of the play to costume/jewelry designs and graphic novel scene illustrations. Students worked diligently on their craft and discovered their inner strengths in the process, giving them the opportunity to showcase their talent and originality to teachers, friends and classmates.

During the initial stages of the activity, students proposed their vision for the project. They selected a category, planned what materials or equipment they needed for implementation, anticipated any challenges that could arise and discussed their roles in completing the final piece. Moving forward, students put forth plenty of time and effort into their projects as they worked both inside and outside of class. Their teachers felt their enthusiasm and dedication as students collaborated with their peers, explored new technologies and applied creative abilities. Students then composed a reflective piece in which they identified successes and challenges they encountered during the project. They discussed their overall experience and what they learned from the Shakespeare unit. They also presented the projects to their English classes.

This year's winning projects were then honored at a special ceremony at Harriton. After thorough collaboration, discussion and voting, students and teachers chose one project from each category at each high school that best captured the overall theme and emotions in Romeo and Juliet while successfully incorporating unique talent and imagination. At the Golden Rose Awards ceremony, students from both schools exuded genuine excitement for their peers. To view a slideshow of pictures from the event, click on the image below!

Congratulations to all of this year's honorees!

Best Trailer

• HHS: Lucie Edmonds, Ben Wallach, Freya Norwood, Olivia Twomey, Hannah Kraus
• LMHS: Jamillah Jackson, Makhia Peoples-Johnson

Best Graphic Novel

• HHS: Isabel Prosnitz
• LMHS: Emma Liu

Best Soundtrack

• HHS: Connor Rees
• LMHS: Sofia Gonzalez-Recober, Lujain Assiri

Best Costume Design

• HHS: Bridget Armon, Julia Hoeffner, Julie Wright
• LMHS: Gabbie Feaster

Best Set Design

• HHS: Anna Rose Hunt-Isaak, Josephine Kwok, Catherine Wan
• LMHS: Zoe Agiv

Best Jewelry Design

• LMHS: Alexa Fairman, Marlene Chmielewski

Best Diary Entries

• HHS: Camille Seignourel
• LMHS: Rissa Howard, Macy Donahue

Best Scene Reenactment

• HHS: Jakob Schulman, Ben Fisher, Zachary Kades

Best Original Scene

• HHS: Sophie Baskin, Everette Greenberg, Zachary Sandler, Josh Wyche
• LMHS: Kenta Tsukamoto, Eric Yang, Mona Vakil, Bowen Ying

Best Soliloquy

• LMHS: Abby Wolf

Best Original Poem

• HHS: Angelina DeMonte
• LMHS: Liam Gordon, Spencer Rosenbaum, Ben Wolf

Best Original Song

• HHS: Jason Dichter, Leo Pearlstein
• LMHS: Mark Riggio/Gabi Gamburg, Khalil Jeru-Ahmen/Tarie Ewart/Josh Green/Jack Kovach, Jessica Eichen, Grisha Fast/Ben Miller-Wilson/Will Johnson/Daniel Stencel

Best Student Design/Miscellaneous

• HHS: Allison Liao, Sofia Solon, Ishika Vyas
• LMHS: Lily Ruth Mamary