Hello!

My name is Cole Dennis and I serve as the 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher for Community of Peace Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. This school year, we have received the wonderful opportunity to go on a field trip to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota to see William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" this spring. This is a play that our students have read and loved the entire time that I have taught here at CPA. 8th graders relate well to themes surrounding identity, control, bodily/hormonal confusion, and the toils of romance. I have found that this play specifically gives students a language to express their feelings in a constructive way. For most of my students, this will be their very first time attending a live theatre performance. They are very excited. The opportunity to share this performance with my students at one of the premier theaters in the Midwest is one that I can't wait to experience.

However, the ability to make this trip work comes at significant cost to the school, which does not have the necessary funds to pay the entire cost of the busing and tickets. In order to avoid passing these costs on to students, many of whom will be deterred from this experience by the cost alone, I am asking for your help raising the $800 necessary to subsidize our transportation and ticketing costs.