By Lauren Valentino

Botelle School students and staff were transported to back in time on Thursday, Feb. 22, when actor LLuana Jones from MobileEd Productions visited the Hall of Flags and taught the students about important women in history. Students contemplated the ideas of freedom and equality during the 45-minute program in which Jones portrayed famous American women like Clara Barton, Harriet Tubman, Annie Sullivan and Amelia Earhart.

Lluana Jones plays Clara Barton, founder and president of the American Red Cross.

In her role as Clara Barton, the founder and president of the American Red Cross, Jones called first grader Prestyn Handlowich and third grader Ashlynn Beeman from the audience to act out a scenario where the two students—one boy and one girl—were hired to move imaginary boxes from one place to another. When the “work” was finished, Clara pretended to pay them. Prestyn was paid one dollar for his work, and Ashlynn was paid seventy-seven cents. Prestyn piped up, “That’s not fair.” Clara played along, highlighting her point that women were not then, and at times today still aren’t, given equal pay for equal work. We learned that she struggled with this issue herself when the school she had helped to start wanted to hire a principal and, instead of her, hired a man. She left that school and became a nurse, eventually serving in the Civil War.

After a quick wardrobe change, Clara Barton became Harriet Tubman, a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She shared how she risked her life so others could find freedom. To help students understand what it might have been like to travel on the Underground Railroad, Jones called 15 or so students up from the audience to follow her to freedom. Students tiptoed through the Hall of Flags in silence while Harriet described what it was like to travel through the woods during the night. Then they stopped and pretended to sleep in a safe house, like they did during the day to avoid those who tried to capture runaway slaves.

Jones as Amelia Earhart, the first woman to earn a pilot’s license in the U.S.

The performance ended with Jones as Amelia Earhart. Students knew the most about this famous woman, who was the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic. Amelia Earhart kept challenging herself and never gave up, despite failures and discouragement from others who said that she couldn’t reach her goals.

We are so grateful to our PTO for bringing high-quality cultural programs like this to Botelle. The next cultural arts program is April 12, when students from Botelle and Colebrook Consolidated will journey together through the universe in Sky Dome, an inflatable planetarium. It’s sure to be space-tacular!

Photos by Bruce Frisch.