Hope High School students: what did you do this summer? Read on to find out!

Summer can be a tremendous time for learning for students, as evidenced by the intense projects on which some Hope High School students have been working. During the past month, students from Hope High School's H2O After School programs participated in "The Experience," a four-week program in which they honed their entrepreneurial skills as product developers and marketers. Channel 6 ABC news reported on their efforts, and if you're on Facebook, you visit Hope H2O's Facebook page to learn more both about "The Experience" and Hope H2O's work in general.

And as I've written about previously, other Hope students in Edinburgh, Scotland to perform Laurie Brooks' "Triangle" at the American High School Theater Festival that's part of Edinburgh's Fringe Festival. They're performing this week, so send excellent vibes across the ocean! Recent local press coverage from GoLocalProv is here, and Rhode Island College's PR office covered the production in detail here; both Christine Auxier, a drama teacher at Hope and "Triangle" director and the production's technical director, Alonzo Jones, are RIC grads. Jones is also a Hope High School graduate.

Rock on, Hope High School!!!

Hope High School Theater Students Ready "Triangle" for Scotland - performances in Providence this week!

Hope students performing "Triangle" earlier this year

As previously on this blog shared here and here Hope High School's theater company will be performing Laurie Brooks' "Triangle" at the American High School Theater Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in August. Local fans and supporters can catch performances of "Triangle" this week - Hope's theater students will perform at the Carriage House, 9 Duncan Avenue in Providence on Friday, June 24 at 7:00pm and Sunday, June 26 at 3:00pm. Tickets are $10 and as Channing Grey reported in the ProJo over the weekend, "will help defray travel expenses. Students, parents and the community have raised all but $10,000 of $106,000 needed to send the students to Scotland."

"Triangle" focuses on the modern-day connections to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which happened in New York City in 1911, killing 140 workers. Hope High School's appearance at the American High School Theater Festival marks the school's third time at the even in recent years, an extraordinary accomplishment for Hope theater teacher Christine Auxier, her students, and everyone who has supported them.

Get out to see "Triangle" this week and celebrate our local - soon to be international - talent!

Preview of "Triangle" and discussion at Hope High School tonight, 7:00pm

Tonight, the Hope High School Theater Company will offer a free preview performance of Laurie Brook's Triangle, a play focused on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire disaster and its parallels to current-day immigrants' issues. Hope theater teacher Christine Auxier and her student performers chose today for the preview because it's the 100th anniversary of the fire. A discussion with the actors and Hope high school faculty will follow the half-hour preview performance.

The Triangle preview will take place at Hope High School, 342 Hope Street in Providence, 7:00pm tonight.

The Hope High School Theater Company will perform Triangle in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer at the American High School Theater Festival, which takes place in conjunction with the city's renowned Fringe Festival. The American High School Theater Festival showcases the best of high school theater in the United States - it's a highly competitive, tremendous undertaking. Hope is a repeat visitor to the Festival, having performed there previously in 2000 and 2004. This video prominently features Hope High School's performers from their trip in 2000, and conveys a vivid sense of the festival's thrill and rigor.

Attend tonight's performance and discussion to learn more both about the Triangle fire and its parallels to today and to connect with this extraordinarily focused and talented group of young people at Hope High School. I'll be sharing more here in the coming weeks about how to support the Hope High School Theater Company as they make their final preparations to travel to Scotland in August - and if you don't want to wait, feel free to contact the company's director Christine Auxier by email to offer your support.