JEHS students participate in National Shakespeare Competition

Jordan-Elbridge High School students are once again participating in the National Shakespeare Competition through the English-Speaking Union following a one-year pause of the program. Bayleigh Clark, Elora Kunz, and Haylee Salmonsen all auditioned this year.

“The competition was so fierce this year that the judges were deadlocked for two days,” said English teacher Katie Eldridge.

The first round of the competition takes place within JEHS. It was unique this year, as students recorded a monologue instead of performing in front of an audience. A panel of JE teachers was tasked with watching the recordings and choosing a winner. This year, that winner was Bayleigh Clark.

“You want to embody the character, so if you’re reaching for a line, it makes sense because most of the time what these characters are saying, it’s just coming out of their head, so they had to gather their thoughts before they say something, which is something I did not understand 3 years ago,” said Bayleigh, when talking about her growth from the first year she auditioned.

Now, she will move on to compete in the regional round of the competition, which takes place at Syracuse Stage at the beginning of March. She gets to work with acting professor Thom Miller ahead of that next performance, where she’ll add a sonnet along with the monologue she performed in her audition.

“They all did monologues they did two or three years ago, so they have done these monologues before but not since they were young,” explained Eldridge. “It was really fun to see them redevelop them and come at them when they were a little bit more mature.”

“I liked being able to look at the video of the monologue I did my first time, then the video I did this year, and seeing the progress I’ve made, it’s just great to see that,” added Haylee Salmonsen.

JEHS students have taken part in this competition since 2018, and multiple students have been named regional finalists in past years. Students at the regional level compete for a chance to take part in the national competition in New York City, which will happen in April.

The winner of the national competition will be sent to the British American Drama Academy Mid-Summer Conservatory Program, while the second-place winner will be sent to American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp, and the third-place winner will receive $1,000.

For all three JEHS students who auditioned, this is also practice for their futures. Both Bayleigh and Haylee want to go on to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, while Elora wants to study music. You can find recordings of all three monologues below.