Standiford fourth-graders dig into Gold Rush history

John Sutter struck gold over winter break for a Standiford Elementary School fourth-grader newly fascinated by history.

Paul Massengill stood his post last week, his jacket festooned with epaulets and gold buttons he glued on to match old pictures of Sutter. Again and again he recited the speech he wrote and memorized, thrusting a play sword for dramatic emphasis and grinning ear to ear clearly relishing his part.

“He did it all himself, and it looked really good,” said grandmother Joan Bullerwell with evident pride. “He knows all about Sutter. Now he wants to go to Sutter’s Fort!” she said. The family plans to go soon, a first look for all of them.

Teaching the fourth grade California Gold Rush chapter as performance art was a eureka moment for teacher Lynda Griblin, who has coordinated the Living History Museum since it began about seven years ago at the north Modesto campus in the Sylvan Union School District.

“Knowing about the actual people, it helps it come alive for them. Being 9 or 10 years old, history isn’t that interesting for them – they don’t have any history,” Griblin said, standing in the cacophony of a cafeteria full of reciting students.

Hundreds of schoolmates crowded around the 75 fourth-grade actors, each standing before an upright lunch table bedecked with a hand-drawn picture naming the characters and illustrating their lives. Most were mid-19th-century luminaries, though one class strayed to more modern times.

Before each performer was a red paper circle. Stepping on the red dot cued the actor to start talking.

The speech Sofia Mort researched and wrote on Amelia Earhart lasted 1 minute, 34 seconds. She timed it.

“I kept reading it over and over,” said the 10-year-old, clad in her little brother’s airman’s jacket and old-style pilot goggles from a classmate.

What did she take away from her 45-minute stint as one of the most famous female aviators?

“It’s important to achieve any goal you set your mind to, because you can,” Sofia said.

A few tables away, another Amelia Earhart regaled young audiences with soaring tales of adventure.

“I thought she was an interesting person. I’d heard a lot about her – she set world records,” said Jade Crawford, taking a swig from her metal water bottle between sets.

Across the room, Aaron Ghosh portrayed President James Polk, a character he picked because of his attire.

“I just thought he was appealing, and I had this nice suit. I just thought it would be the perfect fit,” he said after reciting his story.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stood, fists up, waiting for his cue to recite the story of his rise from body builder to action film star to politician.

“To my surprise, I won the election,” Ethan Kieta recited about his character’s later career turn.

Biddy Mason, a 19th-century African American nurse, entrepreneur and philanthropist successfully sued to stay in San Francisco, where she was a free woman, explained Ganae Montgomery.

“She ended up being one of the richest women in Los Angeles!” Ganae exclaimed.

Finding female characters to portray has been a struggle, Griblen said.

“It’s real tough for our girls. There weren’t a lot of girls here during the Gold Rush,” she said, pointing to generic “entrepreneur” and “settler” actresses.

But even without a particular personality, each role required research, extensive reading, writing and speaking work, weaving English lessons with social studies, she pointed out, saying “It’s all Common Core (educational standards) skills.”

The museum performance also weaves a bit of Gold Rush knowledge into each student’s own story. Chances are, they will never forget that bit of history.

This story was originally published January 22, 2017 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Standiford fourth-graders dig into Gold Rush history."