Branch Activities

Scholarship Program

A primary focus of the Kentucky Branch is its Scholarship Program. Kentucky teachers and college students attend summer studies at Britain's most prestigious universities. The classes are taught by world renowned authors, actors and lecturers. More scholarships are provided by the Kentucky Branch than any other branch. Click here to learn more about our Student and Teacher Scholarship opportunities. 

National Shakespeare Competition

The annual high school Shakespeare Competition is designed to reward excellence in the use of the spoken word.  Participants present a monologue and a sonnet by Shakespeare.  A winner from each school attends the competition in Louisville. The Branch winner is awarded an all-expense paid trip to New York City to represent Kentucky in the ESU National Competition at Lincoln Center. The national winner in NYC receives a two-week summer study in England. Click here to learn more about our Student Shakespeare Competition.

Click here to see Kentucky's 2007 National Shakespeare winning performance by Adam Brown of Louisville, Kentucky: http://www.youtube.com/.

Books as Envoys

Each year sets of award winning Ambassador Books, selected by a national panel, are sent as "literary ambassadors" of American culture to schools and libraries around the world. The Kentucky Branch is paired with the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow.

Evelyn Wrench Speaker Program

In the summer of 1918, journalist Evelyn Wrench asked fifteen of his friends to join him at a London club to discuss ways in which closer ties and mutual understanding between English-speaking peoples could be fostered. The group's vision became The English-Speaking Union, today's worldwide, influential organization, which in the United States can count among its chairmen the distinguished World War II general and former United States president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and, in Britain, the famous statesman, Winston S. Churchill. Wrench speakers address current events or subjects of cultural or historical interest. Regional tours of Evelyn Wrench speakers are planned and underwritten by the ESU National Headquarters with the cooperation and assistance of Regional Chairmen and the Branches. A recent speaker at the Kentucky Branch was Professor Alan Lee Williams, the former President of the Atlantic Treaty Association and the Director of the Atlantic Council of the UK, who spoke on NATO and the Counter-Terrorist Strategy.

Walter Hines Page Scholarships

Visiting scholars from the United Kingdom, Central and South America are hosted by ESU branches in an effort to study developments relevant to their own specialized fields. Scholars visit local schools and institutions in the Branch area in an effort to promote the exchange of educational ideas.

Queen's Birthday Garden Party

This annual event while celebrating the birthday of the Queen, serves as a fundraiser for the many ESU branch programs and events. The celebration includes keynote speakers, music and entertainment, and a traditional English Tea held in a historic home or setting.

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