When you grow up in New Hampshire, it’s important to learn a few things about our state’s history. Because if you live here, outsiders are going to expect your knowledge of the Granite State to be vast and informative.
Some of us may not remember all those little tidbits of information as we get older, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t know them at one point or another. More often than not, you learn the important stuff in school and on field trips to various historical sites around the state.
But if you’re interested in getting a history lesson from a large group of fourth graders, then you might want to make plans to head down to Bow High School next Tuesday.
That’s where the entire fourth grade from Bow Elementary School will be putting on a play all about New Hampshire history entitled, Blast From the Past: A New Hampshire Story.
And this isn’t just any play. In addition to being a musical, the play was actually written by the fourth-grade students at BES. So this isn’t something you’ve seen before. This is what you’d call an original production.
Fourth grade is when students learn all about New Hampshire history, and putting on a play about it is something that the fourth grade teachers in Bow had been talking about for a couple years. They just didn’t know how.
Enter Heidi Pauer stage left. Pauer, who has worked at Bow High School for many years, is currently spending the year working with teachers and students around the state on all kinds of projects thanks to the Christa McAuliffe sabbatical. And it was all the way back in June when Pauer got word from her fellow Bow district teachers that they wanted her help. Right before Thanksgiving she began working with the students and has been ever since.
“A lot went into this thing,” Pauer said. “Its been amazing, absolutely amazing.”
There are four fourth-grade classes in Bow and each one will represent a different topic of New Hampshire history in the performance. Cheryl Hamer’s class is focusing on immigration and early industry in the mills. The students with Kathy Gage are in charge of Native Americans. The American Revolution will be covered by Jeannette Whaland’s class. And the explorers and early settlers will be taught by the students of Jess Allison.
“They taught me stuff,” Pauer said. “There were things I had forgotten from New Hampshire history.”
Each student wrote down the three most important things they’d learned about New Hampshire history and the topics with the most votes were included. The students actually wrote the play, with Pauer’s help, over the last few months with a lot of revisions along the way.
“The kids wrote it. I just helped facilitate it,” Pauer said. “They pretty much decided everything and that was important to me.”
The students worked in mini groups to write the script, which is still actually a work in progress.
“At 7 p.m. on April 19, that’s when it gets nailed down,” Pauer said.
They decided on what songs they’d perform thanks to the school’s artist in residency for music, Jeff Warner, who will accompany the students during their performance.
“Its been a true collaboration between so many people,” Pauer said.
This week they’re working on props and costumes, and the final tweaks – like with any production.
“We’re going to start putting the pieces together,” Pauer said.
The entire fourth grade will gather for a song at the beginning and then each class will have about nine minutes of stage time, including two songs. A couple students from each class will narrate, others will act and have important singing roles (or both), and the remaining will either play instruments or sing. Everyone has an important role in the production.
“We have a lot of brave kids,” said music teacher JoAnn Willemssen, who has been working with the students three days a week.
There will be transitions between classes and all 80-plus students will return to the stage for the grand finale song.
All in all, the play will be about 45 minutes and it’s a one-time production so you don’t want to miss out.
The curtains rise at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (April 19) in the Bow High School Auditorium, so you’ll probably want to get there a few minutes early to get a good seat. It’s free for anyone who would like to catch a once in a lifetime performance – or a history lesson. Need we say more?
