Presidents on parade at Holy Angels

After months of preparation for their two-day “Meet Our Presidents Day”, eighth grade students of Holy Angels Catholic Academy were in full presidential regalia reciting famous speeches from the presidents of the United States on May 5.

In an effort to show the community some of the things the school does to educate the students, Social Studies teacher Russell Berry came up with the idea of having students reenact the presidents of our nation. “They were excited from the moment they learned about it,” Berry said.

In the beginning of September, students were on the hunt for who they would like to be and what speech they would like to present. “They came to me and said, ‘This is who I want to be, and this is the reason why I want to be them.’ And, if they had a convincing speech then that’s who they chose,” Berry said.

In total, 21 presidents were depicted, beginning with George Washington and ending with Barack Obama. The others included John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Howard Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Executive Board of the Parent Teacher Association Rachel Connolly thought it was great. Connolly’s son, eighth graders, portrayed Ulysses Grant. “Like the teacher had already stated, they learned about each president individually and through practicing their speeches they got to learn about all the presidents,” said Connolly. “Not only does it help them become great speakers but it teaches them the facts of our country.”

On May 6, day two of the event took place in the school gym where the eighth grade presidential actors were in their clothes, wigs, cravats and mustaches once again to meet with visitors. They answered questions and took photos as well.

The project was a cross curriculum English Language Arts and Social Studies based lesson that encompasses history, reading, writing, acting, public speaking and theatre arts. This was the first time Holy Angels Catholic Academy has done this and will do it again next year around Presidents Week.