Nicholas Coppola-Karelin ’28 has been awarded the Lily McKee High School Fellowship by the Folger Shakespeare Library. Following a highly selective and competitive application process open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors from DC-area high schools, Nicholas joins a small cohort of students who will explore Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Selected from the largest applicant pool since 2002, Nicholas is the first Prep student to be named a McKee Fellow since 2017.

From January through May, Nicholas and his fellow McKee Fellows will meet twice weekly for seminars and lectures led by distinguished scholars from the Folger and beyond. The program includes hands-on research in the Folger’s Reading Room, where Fellows will work with rare books, manuscripts, and digital tools. Fellows will also explore the principles and practices of performing Shakespeare and will attend a performance of Folger Theatre’s As You Like It on April 4. The Fellowship will culminate in a final project, in which Fellows select a work from the Folger’s collection to pursue their own creative and intellectual interests.

“The McKee Fellowship is an exciting opportunity to delve into Shakespeare and explore a question that has long interested me: how Shakespeare can be made relevant to younger audiences today,” Nicholas said. “I am grateful to collaborate with other students who share this passion, and to Prep’s faculty and administration for their encouragement, support, and rigorous academic preparation.”