EHHS students took to Broadway on December 7, 2022 to see Hamilton after earning a grant from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Since 2020, the Hamilton field trip took place in New York, has been online but is finally back on Broadway, allowing EHHS students to travel to NYC for the day. EHHS Social Studies instructional leader, Dr. Joseph Marangell and English instructional leader Mrs. Lisa Veleas, partnered with The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History that sponsors the high school with the grant to be able to participate in this program. This allowed for students to go see a popular musical that is based on American history, which shares a series of important messages to enhance their learning in US History classes.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute reaches out to schools based on their student population and demographics. The cost of the trip is covered by the institute, so it was free to attend, however, students were required to complete certain preparations in order to be eligible to attend. Only juniors and sophomores were eligible to apply and attend. In order to attend, students had to complete a project on early American history. Students get a workbook from the institute to guide them on the project requirements. In the work book, there is a timeline for students to decide the topic and what they want to do for the project. Students look at primary sources to help them with the topic and then create the project that they have to record on Flipgrid. They have about three weeks to complete the project and they can either work alone or in a group of no more than three people. The students have to decide the type of project; it can be a poem, a scripted play, a song, monologue, or something else that involves creative storytelling. The video for the project has to be no longer than a two minute timeframe.
The musical, Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda is about the life of Alexander Hamilton’s, starting from when he was an early adult to when he was killed. The musical demonstrates the struggle people went through during the American Revolution and how America became the country that we know today. Since America is diverse, Hamilton shows that as society in the present can learn lessons through historical events in the past.
Many of the students who had the opportunity to see Hamilton really enjoyed it. Due to Covid-19, there have not been many field trips, so having the chance to go on one provided a good learning experience. A junior at EHHS, Madison Moody stated, “I was really excited, I thought it was a fun opportunity and I really enjoyed the experience overall. Going to New York was a fun experience, I’ve never been on an out of state field trip and so it was really exciting to go.” Another student, a sophomore at EHHS, Danny Mendoza stated, “The perspective and the process of the field trip was good. The play was interesting and it was great and exciting. The actors were very animated and energetic, not boring at all.” They both thought the performance of the play was entertaining and was a good opportunity to attend. Overall Hamilton the musical, and the field trip, was a great experience that students really enjoyed since the message provides an important lesson for students that ties into what they’re learning.
