Everyman Theatre High School Matinee Program Named 2026 Library of Congress Literacy Awards Honoree
Everyman Theatre announced that its long-standing High School Matinee Program has been named a Successful Practices Honoree in the 2026 Library of Congress Literacy Awards. The recognition honors the program's nearly 30-year commitment to strengthening student literacy through the study and performance of dramatic texts. Announced in conjunction with International Literacy Day on September 8, the distinction places Everyman among 21 organizations selected from a national and international field for their innovative, measurable contributions to literacy education.
Sponsored by David M. Rubenstein since 2013 and the Kislak Family Foundation since 2023, the Literacy Awards program recognizes promising initiatives that advance literacy through exemplary, innovative, and replicable strategies.
Launched in 1997, the High School Matinee Program invites over 500 students into Everyman's productions not as passive audiences but as active readers-analyzing dramatic texts with Everyman Teaching Artists before experiencing them as live performance and building the bridge between written and spoken language that sits at the heart of literacy itself. The program is grounded in state and national educational standards and shaped continually by teacher feedback, allowing it to integrate seamlessly with in-school learning rather than compete with it. The program is also designed such that the same students attend at least four productions during their school year, supporting deeper engagement rather than singular experiences.
The program also emphasizes context: through custom-designed learning materials and artist discussions, students examine how history, culture, and an author's lived experience shape a text, learning to read a play not only for its story but also for what it reveals about its world. This approach builds the critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and literacy skills that dramatic literature uniquely develops-on the page and in performance.
Twelve organizations internationally, including Everyman, were named Successful Practices Honorees, each receiving $10,000 in recognition of their work; five additional organizations were recognized as Emerging Strategies Honorees. The High School Matinee Program is a cornerstone of Everyman's education initiatives, extending the theatre's mission of transformative, accessible storytelling into classrooms across the region.