ORANGE : Pupils Stage Lesson on U.S. History

Eighty students, dressed in colonial attire, re-enacted the birth of the United States on Wednesday, portraying key events in the Revolutionary War and its aftermath.

Fifth- and sixth-graders from Taft and Serrano elementary schools put on the lively pageant at Taft as part of “Constitution Lives,” a history lesson about the nation’s beginnings.

The youngsters played the parts of angry colonists, a belligerent King George III, statesmen Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington and other historical figures of the era.

King George “burdens us with taxation and yet gives us no representation,” said Vannghi Vo, 11, lifting her fists in the air. Vannghi played the part of a mad colonist, ready to fight for freedom.

The students staged the Boston Tea Party, in which colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped tea from British ships to protest taxation. They also acted out the signing of the Declaration of Independence and other key events in the revolution and ended the performance with a re-enactment of the ratification of the Constitution.

The pageant was created and organized by Paula Burton, a retired teacher from Villa Park who staged the same show last week at Serrano Elementary.

That performance was videotaped by the Orange County Department of Education, which will distribute copies of the tape to schools throughout the country.

Burton, known in Villa Park as the “Flag Lady” because she always wears red, white and blue and teaches students the significance of the U.S. flag, also organized another patriotic event last October. Children throughout the nation celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Pledge of Allegiance with pageants at hundreds of elementary schools.

Burton hopes “Constitution Lives” becomes just as big.

“It brings history to life,” said Burton, 52. “These kids almost walked in the shoes of our founding fathers. They now recognize the struggle to gain freedom was a compromise. I think that reflects on issues today. We want to accomplish peaceful solutions whether in the family, the government or the classroom.”

Justin Diemert, 12, who played Thomas Jefferson, said the show has taught him a lesson he will never forget.

“Creating the Constitution didn’t happen overnight,” he said. “And, now I know how it was created and all the articles and the people” involved.