Colonial America Portrayed at Fremont Elementary

George Washington, Benedict Arnold, candlemakers and a printer visited fifth graders at Fremont Elementary School April 14.

The characters from colonial America were brought to life by students in Sherri Downer’s fifth grade class, who presented their research projects to the rest of the school’s fifth-graders.

Downer - dressed in Colonial-style red, button-front pants, a white shirt, navy blue cape and tri-corner hat - started the performance, reading a description of John Adams from David McCullough’s biography of the American patriot.

Then the students, all dressed in period costumes, gave their presentations, each focused on one aspect to life in the American colonies. Emily Boone and Maria Cortes began the assembly with a presentation on schooling, describing the books used - The New England Primer, and the Holy Bible - and the subjects taught, such as needlework and Bible reading. The girls then offered a vivid depiction of the type of corporal punishment used in schools 200 years ago, with one pretending to paddle another for mouthing off.

Raffi Chouchanian and Harut Darakchyan talked about how books were made. Spencer Dryden portrayed George Washington and Christopher Hernandes portrayed Benedict Arnold. Jacqueline Phinney portrayed “Molly Pitcher,” a name given to women who traveled with the troops, often offering water to wearing soldiers.

Other presentations were: candlemaking by Aquila Colligan and Andrea Mansoorian, pewtering by David Yi and Arash Sanei, blacksmithing by Su Hyoung Kim and Jared Ogassian, weaving by Jennifer Lane and Jennifer Wagner, clothing by Stephanie Cho, Cory Timpson and Annie Chaparyan, glassblowing by Michelle Avidisyans and Jade Guernsey, hats and wigs by Angela Tsaturyan, carpentry by Abdelrahim Hentabli and Danny Gonzales, food by Yejin Oh, SeaLa Oh and Sydney Farzadkish, shipwrights by Dillen Maurer and Eugene Hahn, architecture by Loris Mousessian and Austin Hunt, medicine by Brandon Baum and Alex Lee, and art by Shin Ku Kang and Mark Anson.

All of the students wore period costumes for their presentations, with each girl wearing a mob cap - a white soft hat, gathered around the crown, with a soft brim trimmed with lace. The caps were made last year - the first year of the colonial projects - by a Fremont parent. Boys donned dress shirts, pulled up their baseball pants and pulled on long socks and dress shoes. Old aprons from Ace Hardware, turned backwards, made excellent period aprons.

“The whole point is to turn them on to history,” Downer said, “to get them excited about people in the past and to see they were regular people who could make a difference.”