A Play for Constitution Day
In honor of Constitution Day and the recent 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, students in Sherrie Russell's fourth grade class at Ridgeline Elementary in Highland performed a play depicting Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. Students from other classes filed into Russell's classroom and watched as her students reenacted Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat, the sit-ins at Woolworth's lunch counters, and other scenes of segregation and protest.
While some of the words were taken from books, the students developed the script and the production on their own.
"They chose their own words, they chose their own actions," said Russell. "I think when they do it themselves and they act it out, they remember it and it goes into their heart."
The class decided to start the first of three days of performances on Tuesday to coincide with Constitution Day, the anniversary of the date the Constitution was signed in 1787. Russell said that her students were surprised as they learned how poorly African Americans and other minorities were treated before the civil rights movement.
"It's a real eye opener for these kids because they don't see it the same way now," Russell said.
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I went to see Kate's play today in her 4th grade class. They have performed it several times for different classes (and the Daily Herald reporter). Kate did a great job. Her voice was clear and carried so everyone could hear. Her parts in the play were: a mean old woman outside of an elementary school telling the young Martin Luther King, Jr. that he couldn't go to school with the white kids. She also played the person who told Rosa Parks to give up her seat on the bus. I really think it was a powerful learning experience for her class. On the way out of the school, Mikey and I talked about the play a little. I told him that it was a play about things that really happened. I told him how the laws were unfair and how some white people thought they were better than black people just because of the color of their skin. Then I said, "Do you think that's right?" and without hesitation he answered, "No way! It doesn't matter what color your skin is!"
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