Taking the Road West [VIDEO]

Pupils from the Oakdale School took the audience at last week's Board of Education meeting on a trip to the American frontier, as they acted out three skits from our history.

Under the guidance of teachers David Autencio, Lisa Punsalan and Kelly Teuner, pupils showed scenes from The Wilderness Road, life on the Oregon Trail, and what it was like to look for gold during the California Gold Rush.

According to an information sheet handed out by Principal Mark Johnson, who introduced them, the students took a collaborative approach to learning, developing "realistic, thought-provoking questions" to focus their research.

With the idea in mind of presenting the findings in a town meeting forum, they imagined living during the times they were studying - and created first-person accounts of what life would be like.

They made, found and brought props, setting the scene as they chopped and cut underbrush to make their way through the wilderness, examined a broken wagon wheel, and knelt by a river, panning for gold.

The pupils are scheduled to perform the skits at an upcoming town meeting.

The students were:

• Christopher Cameron
• Ryan Champagne
• Lily DeCosta
• Marcus Esannason
• Patrick Frechette
• Iain Hatchett
• Connor Hubbert
• Julian Valdes
• Jack Varley
• Tyler Velazquez
• Shay  Ventresca

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