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OFE News Release

Area Students to Participate in Colonial Day at the Capitol Feb. 2

January 31, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY -- More than 500 fifth-grade students from schools in CHOCTAW, LAWTON, MOORE, MIDWEST CITY, OKLAHOMA CITY AND SHAWNEE will be traveling back into American history on Friday, Feb. 2, when they participate in the eighth annual Colonial Day at the Capitol. Most events will take place from 9:40 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Oklahoma State Capitol building.

Highlighting this year’s Colonial Day will be a special appearance by Colonial Williamsburg historical interpreter Sheila Arnold, who portrays Oney Judge. Judge was the personal maid servant to Martha Washington from pre-Revolutionary War days until the last year of George Washington’s presidency. Arnold will join Oklahoma-based reenactors, portraying such historical figures as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Sacagawea and a militia soldier.

The students – many dressed in Colonial costume -- will recite the Bill of Rights and participate in a debate between American patriots and British loyalists. During teacher-led sessions, students can play colonial games, practice early-American dances, explore colonial trades and test their skills as junior archaeologists.

“Colonial Day is an engaging and action-packed day of learning that brings Colonial history to life for Oklahoma students,” said project director Teresa Potter, a fifth-grade teacher at Fisher Elementary School in Moore. “Kids really enjoy visiting the capitol, meeting with character interpreters and participating in all the interactive sessions.”

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence will recognize the winner of its Colonial Day Literature Contest during opening ceremonies at 9:40 a.m. in the House chambers. Ben Franklin will present a plaque and $100 savings bond to this year’s recipient, Kacie Mills of Bethany, for her award-winning poem, “To Be An American.”

Elementary schools participating in this year’s Colonial Day are L.W. Westfall Elementary and James Griffith Intermediate of CHOCTAW; Flowermound Elementary School of LAWTON; Cleveland-Bailey and Traub elementary schools of MIDWEST CITY, Bryant and Fisher elementary schools of MOORE; Hilldale Elementary School of OKLAHOMA CITY; and South Rock Creek Elementary School of SHAWNEE.

Colonial Day is coordinated by teachers who have participated in the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute through a fellowship program administered by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.

The event is made possible by funding from the Oklahoma Humanities Council and a 2007 state appropriation through the Oklahoma Historical Society. Additional support is provided by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and Charles L. Oppenheim.

For information, contact Teresa Potter, Colonial Day project director, at (405) 317-5212.