In honor of the great playwright William Shakespeare, the English department will be having Bard’s Birthday Bash from April 20-24.

This birthday bash used to be a Maize high tradition.

“Ever since I started teaching here in 2000, it was a tradition,” English teacher Jana Schantz said. “It started off as a student-led activity that started out small. As it went along it got bigger, and bigger, and bigger.”

Bard’s birthday bash hasn’t reoccurred since 2008, so the English department decided it was time to bring it back.

“We decided to bring it back this year because we kind of missed it, and we knew the students had a lot of fun doing it,” Schantz said. “We also new that Mr. Botts would probably be on-board with it too because he likes to have a lot of fun. Basically, we want to celebrate Shakespeare and we want it to build excitement and school pride among the students.”

There are many different events that’ll be going on next week.

There will be the infamous London Market. It’ll be just like the World Market, but it’ll be held in the commons. Students will pay an entry fee in return for being able to purchase homemade food and gifts. Students who want to own a booth can pay $5, or for a booth with an electrical cord, $10. All money that is made will be for the students to keep or be used to pay for stoves for families who can’t afford them.

There’s also a fashion show, a tug-o-war contest, and a poster and door decorating contest.

For students that like to bake, there is a cupcake decorating contest. For students who like music, there is a Shakespearean Epic Rap Battle.

There will also be a king and queen crowning and a medallion hunt.

Most registration forms are due at the end of this week, or the beginning of next. For more information on a specific event, please see any of the English teachers.

All students are encouraged to participate in any or all the events.

“I hope students participate. It’s one of those things that if they don’t, they’ll look back and say ‘Darn, I wish I would’ve done that and been apart of it,’” Schantz said.