OFE News Release
Students to Meet 'Martha Washington' During Colonial Day
OFE Chairman David Boren To Announce Plans
for National American History Campaign
February 3, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY – America’s very first First Lady, Martha Washington, will be among the historical cast of characters meeting students at the 2010 Colonial Day at the Capitol on Friday, Feb. 5, in Oklahoma City.
More than 500 Oklahoma fifth-graders dressed in colonial-period attire will journey back in time to meet historical figures and participate in such teacher-led sessions as colonial games, African American music, revolutionary soldier life and archeology. The day will include a giant, student-led Bill of Rights rap musical performance at 9:30 a.m. in the House of Representatives Chambers and debates between young patriots fighting for America’s independence and loyalists faithful to Britain’s king.
At 10 a.m., Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Chairman David L. Boren will hold a press conference in the Governor's Conference Room to announce plans for a national American history education campaign and new statewide efforts to strengthen early American history education in Oklahoma's public schools.
Oklahoma is the only state in the nation to host a Colonial Day event at its state capitol. The annual event is coordinated by teachers who have participated in the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute through a fellowship program administered by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Teresa Potter of Fisher Elementary School in MOORE and Jan Morris of Cleveland Bailey Elementary School in MIDWEST CITY are coordinators of the annual event, which is presented in partnership with the foundation.
“Colonial Day is an engaging and action-packed day of learning that brings early American history to life for Oklahoma students,” Potter said. “By attending this event right in the legislative, executive and judicial chambers of our State Capitol, students also get to make connections between the founders of our Constitution and the freedoms and responsibilities we enjoy today as U.S. citizens.”
Special guests at this year’s Colonial Day will include Mary Wiseman, who portrays Martha Washington at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, and Richard Josey, Colonial Williamsburg’s managing interpreter of historic events, who will portray Revolutionary War spy James Armistead Lafayette. Tulsa actor Stephen Smith will present his acclaimed interpretation of Ben Franklin. In addition, actors from Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma City will engage students in an interactive production of the musical “1776.” For the first time, education program directors from both Colonial Williamsburg and Mount Vernon, Bill White and Nancy Hayward, respectively, plan to attend the day’s events.
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence will recognize winners of its Colonial Day Literature Contest during opening ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. in the House of Representatives Chambers. Martha Washington will present a plaque and $100 savings bond to literature contest winner PhiYen Nguyen of Fisher Elementary School in MOORE. The theme of the annual contest is “What it Means to Be An American.”
Elementary schools participating in Colonial Day at the Capitol are Oakdale Elementary School of EDMOND; Fisher and Houchin Elementary Schools of MOORE; Piedmont Elementary School and Stone Ridge Elementary School of PIEDMONT; Northridge Elementary School of OKLAHOMA CITY; and Sequoyah and Kendall Whittier Elementary Schools of TULSA.
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has coordinated Oklahoma’s participation in the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute since 1993, thanks to the leadership and support of the late Oklahoma City businessman Edward C. Joullian III, who was an active supporter and former board member of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Joullian was also a trustee of the Foundation for Excellence, a nonprofit organization that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. In 2002, the Foundation for Excellence received additional funding to provide grants for Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trips, which help give thousands of Oklahoma students virtual access to Williamsburg through live television broadcasts, Internet activities and toll-free access to historians.
“Thanks to the vision and leadership of the late Ed Joullian, and the continued support of his family, Oklahoma has become a national leader in early American history education,” said Chip Oppenheim, president of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. “The strong programs initiated by Mr. Joullian have helped attract other partners to the state, such as Mount Vernon’s George Washington Teacher Ambassador Program, to further enhance teaching and students’ civic literacy.”
In 2009, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence launched a Web site for educators at www.colonialday.org to provide resources and lesson plans for creating Community Colonial Days statewide.
Colonial Day at the Capitol is made possible with support from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Oklahoma, Devon Energy, Charles L. Oppenheim of Oklahoma City, Residence Inn by Marriott Oklahoma City Downtown/Bricktown, Panera Bread, Mattocks Printing Co. and the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. The event is also funded in part by a grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed during Colonial Day do not necessarily represent those of the Oklahoma Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
For information, contact Brenda Wheelock, Colonial Day liaison for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, at (405) 236-0006.