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PrintGeneral Membership Meeting Featuring Dr. Patrick Allitt
News
News And Events
News And Events
President's Corner
Welcome Message
August 19, 2024
To Atlanta Branch Members,
Greetings! I am honored to start my second year as your Branch President and look forward to our upcoming ESU sponsored events. In addition, I am honored to now serve on the National ESU Board and to serve as the Chair of the ESU National Task Force Committee. I also have the pleasure of participating as a member of the ESU National Happy Hour Committee and am looking forward to all of the fascinating speakers planned for the 2024/2025 year.
Regarding membership renewals, you will receive renewal notices in early September. Please consider not only renewing your Membership, but also becoming a National Sponsor or Patron.
On August 23 we will have a meeting of your new Board. I am pleased with the hard work and enthusiasm of the Board Members. Plans are underway for some great programs for the 2024/2025 year.
Please mark your calendars for the following:
You are cordially invited to attend our November 12th General Membership Meeting
Tuesday, November 12, 4-6 PM
Speaker-Spalding Nix
Art Historian and Gallery Owner
Presentation: Inspired by Georgia: Paintings In & Of Georgia from the 18th & 19th Centuries
Gould Room Cathedral of St. Philip
2744 Peachtree Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30305
Reception to Follow - Guests Welcome
Sunday, September 1st , 4-6 PM
Speaker - Grahame Davies CVO
Renowned poet and lyricist
Past Director within King (formerly)
Prince Charles' Office
Cathedral of St. Philip, Gould Room
2744 Peachtree Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30305
Reception to Follow Guests Welcome
Sunday, September 15, 4-6 PM
Wrench Speaker – Baroness Catherine Meyer, CBE, Life Peer, Trade Envoy to Ukraine
Survivors, by Christopher Meyer, KCMG, former British Ambassador to US, published posthumously. Historical Biography of the real-life story of Lady Catherine Meyer's family and their dangerous journey across Siberia
Lenbrook Atlanta
3747 Peachtree Rd. NE
Atlanta, GA 30319
Heavy Hors d'oeuvres and full bar - Members $45.00, Guests $55.00
Sunday Brunch, September 29th, 11:30
Speaker- Dr. Patrick Allitt
British Prime Ministers
Ansley Golf Club
196 Montgomery Ferry Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Members $45.00, Guests $55.00
Tuesday, October 15, 4-6 PM
Speaker- Michael Thurmond, CEO DeKalb County
Author: James Oglethorpe, Father of Georgia: A Founder's Journey from Slave Trader to Abolitionist
Cathedral of St. Philip, Gould Room
2744 Peachtree Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30305
Book signing
Reception to Follow Guests Welcome
Please note that the ESU Annual Conference will be held in Cleveland, Ohio on October 18th – 20th. The ESU National website has all of the relevant information as well as the schedule of events. You are invited!
In addition to our large traditional events, such as our events with Distinguished Speakers and the Holiday party; The ESU Atlanta Branch continues to organize the yearly Shakespeare Competition, Boyce Ansley School programs and T-Lab Scholarship programs.
Let's all continue our adventures together at the ESU!
Sincerely,
Susan Phillips, President
ESU, Atlanta Branch
General Membership Meeting
News
General Membership Meeting
September 1, 2024
Travel and Learn Abroad Scholarship 2024
News
What did you do on your summer vacation? If anyone asks Bridget Walsh, a high school English teacher at Brookwood High School in the Gwinnett County School System this question, she has an inspiring answer. Bridget, ESU Atlanta's 2024 Travel and Learn Abroad Scholar (Tlab), spent three weeks at Exeter College, Oxford participating in an English Literature seminar (English Literature Summer School | Oxford University Department for Continuing Education). Bridget will share her Oxford experience at one of our future programs. The date and time will be posted on our website under the Calendar of Events.
The Atlanta branch of the English Speaking Union's (ESU) Tlab scholarship for classroom teachers fully funds a study abroad program in England or Scotland and provides a travel stipend. Information about this scholarship is available at TLab: Travel and Learn Abroad - Atlanta Branch (esuus.org), and the 2025 scholarship application process will be posted in early November, 2024.
2024 ESU Atlanta Shakespeare Competition
News
Sixteen high school students competed in the annual ESU Atlanta Shakespeare Competition at the Shakespeare Tavern on Feb 25, 2024. Here are the top performers:
1st Place – Amelia G., St Pius X Catholic High School (Chamblee, Dekalb). Teacher Jami Warren.
2nd Place – Mars W., Westminster School (Buckhead, Fulton). Teacher Kate Morgens. This is Miss Wilkiemeyer's second appearance on our stage.
3rd Place – Charlotte C., Mount Vernon School (Sandy Springs, Fulton) Teacher Tyler Dale.
Amelia G. will represent ESU Atlanta in New York City as a participant in ESU's 41st National Competition on April 15th at Lincoln Center. The 1ST PLACE winner of the National Competition will receive a fully funded summer study abroad at the BRITISH AMERICAN DRAMA ACADEMY MID-SUMMER CONSERVATORY PROGRAM at Oxford University.
1st Place Winner Amelia G. with ESU President Susan Phillips
Our ESU Atlanta Shakespeare Competition benefits from the many hours that students and teachers dedicate to preparing for this event. This is the second year in a row that St. Pius X has taken first place, albeit with a different teacher. Their last theater teacher was Tracey Buot, and Jami Warren is the current teacher. Westminster has participated since the early 1990's. Kate Morgens has been the teacher for many years, and her students regularly do well. Ms Morgens was inducted into Westminster's Hall of Fame for alumni who excel in the arts. She graduated from the school in 1991, and she is in good company – actors Brian Baumgartner and Ed Helms of The Office fame were two of her classmates! Mount Vernon High School has become a theater power-house in recent years due in large part to one student, Miss Arden Adams, who won our competition two years in a row, and placed third in another year! We are happy to report that she is continuing to pursue her passion for the stage as a student at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. She will graduate in 2025 with a BFA.
Thank you to Diane and Randy Brannen for the phenomenal job they do each year in organizing and presenting this event.
Congratulations, Amelia!
General Membership Meeting - February 15
News
General Membership Meeting
Thursday, February 15, 2024 @ 4pm
Dr. Manning Patillo Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
News
Dr. Manning Patillo's contributions to the English Speaking Union were recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the October 2023 ESUUS National Conference. Charles Maddrey, Board Chair, presented the award to Dr. Patillo's daughter.
Dr. Manning Patillo joined the Atlanta Branch of the ESU in 1975 and served in many leadership roles over the years. As President and then Board Chairman, he led the Branch in implementing financial policies that continue to benefit us to this day, and in providing programs and community outreach that support ESU activities.
The 2024 National Shakespeare Competition Starts Now!
News – December 1, 2023
We are pleased to announce the kick-off of the ESU's National Shakespeare Competition! Schools in our region may enter now, giving students the opportunity to compete in The Atlanta Branch Competition. The winner of the branch competition will travel to NYC to compete in the national finals at Lincoln Center!
2023 Teaching and Learning Abroad Scholar
News
Pierson Bauer
2023 Teaching and Learning Abroad Scholar
English Speaking Union Atlanta
The Atlanta branch of the English Speaking Union (ESU) is delighted to announce that Pierson Bauer has been awarded our Teaching and Learning Abroad (TLaB) Scholarship for 2023. Pierce teaches in the English Language Arts Department at Druid Hills High School in DeKalb County. He teaches British Literature and journalism, and sponsors the student newspaper. Pierce plans to use this scholarship to study English Literature at Exeter College, Oxford, this summer. The scholarship, for active classroom teachers, fully funds a study abroad program and provides a travel stipend.
Pierce shares that "In British Literature classes at Druid Hills, the majority of my students are in their final year of school, and this course, for many, is the final literature class they will ever take. If I can impart to them my knowledge from my time studying at Oxford, that would provide a unique opportunity for my students to grow as literature scholars in their final year before graduating high school."
ESU Atlanta wishes Pierce a successful summer of study as he prepares to spend July in Oxford, and that this experience enhances his connection to his students, colleagues, and community.
