POCATELLO - It's not the usual dancing you would see from freshman high school students, these moves date back to the Elizabethan Era and come straight out of a scene from Romeo and Juliet.

"I had them work with different energy levels so when they're reading and they get bogged down a little we have them move their energy level up where they can run around the room and scream and shout a little bit and just get into it a little more," says Highland High teacher Susan Axford.

Mrs. Axford's English 9 honors class really gets into it, donning face masks and testing their knowledge of the play.

"I wanted them to have some fun experiences so they would know that Shakespeare just isn't a man who lived many hundreds of years ago but that he is also contemporary with his ideas about what's going on today," says Axford.

"It's a little difficult at first and it's kind of hard to see with the masks on but it's a lot of fun it's nice to do something out of your desk for once," says student Sonya Overholser.

"I think that's really fun because we get to get into it and see what it was like to actually be one of Shakespeare's characters in his plays," says student Dylan Gonzalez.

And like Shakespeare's characters, these students are taking on new obstacles in life.

"I think the best reason is because it deals with young love and students this age are just beginning to take a better interest in the opposite sex and they want to see how the others deal with their emotions," says Axford.

Well one thing's for sure, understanding literature from the late 1500's can be tough but not with a teacher like Mrs. Axford.

"She doesn't try to take things to fast, she always makes sure she goes back and makes sure we understand what we learned before before we move on to something else," says Overholser.

"When they come in as 9th graders that freshness and that enthusiasm is always there and we have a good time together," says Axford.

Congratulations to Mrs. Axford who is this week's Head of the Class.

She will be taking home our Golden Apple Award courtesy of Crown Trophy.

If you know an educator making a difference in the schools send Justine an e-mail at justineb@kidk.com.