Rafe Esquith ’81

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Tucked in the back corner of the Hobart Elementary School campus, adjacent to a burnt-out, graffiti-covered apartment building, Rafe Esquith’s inconspicuous classroom barely hints at the magic taking place inside.

Offering a haven for economically disadvantaged children, Esquith has devoted his life to bringing out the best in young people, determined not to let their humble backgrounds limit their potential. With his class beginning at 6:30 a.m. and finishing at 5 p.m. every day, he never hesitates to challenge his students. It’s little wonder that he managed to cultivate a math team that has gone undefeated for the past five years, or transformed children for whom English is a second language into Shakespearean actors. His classes have opened for the Royal Shakespeare Company, been hired by Sir Peter Hall to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Ahmanson, and performed at the Globe Theater in London. Sir Ian McKellen, the National Theater of Britain, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Hal Holbrook are regular visitors to class productions. Esquith spends his lunches and recess periods giving music lessons. Saturday mornings are spent with his former students preparing them for college and afternoons are for music lessons with more than 60 funded by the nonprofit corporation created by his former students now in law school. Time after time, Esquith has proven his extraordinary dedication to the life of every child who enters his classroom.

His exceptional efforts have hardly gone unnoticed. He has won numerous awards, including the Walt Disney American Teacher Award for National Teacher of the Year and the National “As You Grow” Award from Parents magazine. He speaks at events all over the world, bringing students with him to make his case. It is their success that brings him the most gratification. On the walls of his classroom hang banners from the colleges his graduates have gone on to attend – no better testament to his effectiveness as an educator and as a role model.