1987
In the sixth year of teaching GIFTED at Henderson in Lodi Unified, I decided to attempt an ambitious project. I had started the year with a group of thirty students with social issues that gave them a reputation as a difficult group to manage. After many ups and downs, I felt they were ready for a full blown production. I had created a play at the beginning of my teaching career in Connecticut. Then I did a play about the local town history of Niantic. I now wanted to take on producing a play about our country’s history.
In my childhood memories I thought of a television program called “You Are There.” The program featured various key events in American history. I remember it as Edward R. Murrow but with some research, I found that it was actually hosted by Walter Cronkite. Based on the curriculum I taught, I decided on three presidents to tell the story. George Washington represented the revolution and beginning of our country. Abraham Lincoln told of the Civil War and how we stayed together and the Union was preserved. Theodore Roosevelt represented the expansion of our country and the setting up of our national parks. Each president was interviewed and told why he was the most important leader for our country. He then brought in people from his era to support his case.
There was a need for a strong commentator and I made sure it was a girl, as our history is so full of male figures. She had to be very self assured and I named her Amy Smart. I created roles for all 30 students so it was a genuine group project. Some students were much more comfortable being behind the scenes. The stage manager became such an important part of our production as she kept us organized and on task. She would not have enjoyed being in the spotlight on stage. Auditions were held and then parts were assigned.
I involved the music teacher from the beginning. He helped me write the play and also was involved with the auditions. He did all he could when he had our class each week. He even put in extra time when he had time available. I only remember two songs for sure. The first song was “Military Industrial Complex” from the musical “Peace Child.” The other was “You Are a Grand Ole Flag” for our grand finale. Each song also had dance moves to add that extra pizzazz.
For the grand finale, I pulled out all of the stops. Each cast member had a red, white or blue card with an invention on one side and the color block on the other. As they lined up after revealing their invention date, they formed a semblance of a flag. Each cast member also had a red, white and blue streamer attached to a doweling rod. With the colorful cards and then waving the streamers, they gave quite a display to go with the ending song. The last three on the stage were the three presidents now dressed as Uncle Sams.
I wanted the sets to be simple but technology was not ready for what I wanted. I had made multiple slides of American historical sites. I needed a short range rear-projector that would be set up in the rear of the stage. My attempt was hokey at best.
Costumes were fun as I challenged each character to provide a costume as best as they could. Some were able to use previous outfits from our two living history programs involving the Civil War and the other was history of Yosemite National Park. Some mothers stepped up and provided for those in need of a costume. My sister helped out by sewing the pants for the Uncle Sams.
We staged our production for the rest of the school first. Then we expanded to our friends and family. Word spread and there were requests from other schools in the district. A district bus would arrive and off we went to several elementary schools and also a middle school. The big performance was requested by the Lodi Rotary Club because the Assistant Superintendent was a member. One of the main characters called in sick the morning of that performance. After the school secretary gave me the message, I quickly called the mother of that girl back and asked how sick her daughter actually was. She convinced me when she replied that every time the girl stood up she threw up. I gave the sad news to the class and said we had a problem to solve. Immediately at least six hands went up. They all knew all of her extensive lines. We rearranged a few things and the show went on.
We enjoyed our fame and then went back to normal classroom activities and finished the school year. I tried doing this play with another class several years later but they just did not have the magic needed and I had to stop the effort before they embarrassed themselves. It made me realize more than ever how special this 1987 class had become. One of the biggest wonderful surprises to me was watching certain students make the most of their parts. Certain “bit” players learned to shine and made their part something that made people pay attention. If I were to cast those parts again, I would make many changes. However, the group bonded and did such an impressive job that made me proud.
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