Hilary Falkenstein
  • Elementary Education
  • Floyds Knobs, IN

Hilary Falkenstein of Floyds Knobs Performs in Fairy Tale Festival for Elementary School Students

2011 Dec 6

A princess, an ogre, and a grinning cat were among the characters into which University of Evansville students - including Hilary Falkenstein of Floyds Knobs - transformed at UE's fifth annual Fairy Tale Festival for local elementary school students.

The event, designed to spark children's interest in reading, took place the morning of Tuesday, December 6 in the Carson Center large gym.

Falkenstein, who is majoring in Education, was among 23 students in UE's School of Education who performed the classic fairy tales "Alice in Wonderland," "Jack and the Beanstalk," and "The Princess and the Pea" for an audience of 156 kindergarten and first-grade students from Harper Elementary School.

Falkenstein is currently enrolled in Education 422: Teaching Reading and Language Arts in the Elementary School, taught by associate professor of education Sharon Gieselmann.

"The Fairy Tale Festival has two important goals. First, we want to encourage children to get excited about reading," said Gieselmann. "The event also gives Hilary Falkenstein and fellow UE students a chance to apply the reading strategies they learn in class and display their knowledge in a non-traditional way."

"Thanks to students such as Hilary, as the children leave the Fairy Tale Festival each year, you can see the excitement on their faces," Gieselmann added. "If each student goes back to their home school enthusiastic about reading - what a great outcome."