BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP Thomas Paine, famous writer of the Revolutionary War era and a Bordentown City resident, once wrote, "I would rather see my horse eat the grass of Bordentown than all the pomp and show of Europe."
By:David Koch
Students at Clara Barton School have spent the last year learning what Thomas Paine already knew the uniqueness of Bordentown.
"Sometimes, we don’t realize how lucky we are to live in a town like Bordentown," Clara Barton students told audience members.
Parents and teachers assembled in Bordentown Regional High School’s auditorium the evening of May 24 to see "Bordentown Through the Eyes of Our Children."
The students’ presentation was the final result of a year-long research project by Clara Barton students on the history of Bordentown City. The show consisted of individual skits from different Clara Barton grades, using the school’s chorus and band.
The presentation and all the historical research done by Clara Barton students were made possible by an ARTTS grant obtained for the school by Assemblyman Joe Malone.
"It’s an integrated arts project for a year-long study by the students about the history of Bordentown," said Berenice Blum-Bart, principal of the school.
The ARTTS (Arts Related Topics Touching Students) money allowed the school to buy the projector used during the presentation and video production equipment to detail the history of Bordentown. The assembly began with a video slide show of historic and modern buildings throughout Bordentown City.
Through the ARTTS grant, second graders also were able to do a map study of Bordentown, while first-graders went on a field trip to the historic Trent House in Trenton, where Stacey Ruth of the New Jersey Historical Society gave a presentation on the symbolism of tea during the colonial era.
The ARTTS program also allowed students to enjoy various cultural events popular during Colonial America. It included a visit by the New Jersey Opera Co. to Clara Barton to perform.
The presentation was created with the help of all grades of the Clara Barton school; Bordentown Regional High School students; Nancy Bender, vocal music director for Clara Barton, and Clara Barton art instructor Wayne Kulessa.
"Together they brought all the arts and created a production," said Ms. Blum-Bart.
The presentation began with the school chorus reciting "Hail, Columbia." The first skit was "Meet Clara Barton," put on by Clara Barton’s third-graders. The skit involved a group of students in colonial dress gathered around Clara Barton, played by Samantha Shain.
For the presentation, third-graders made a book about Clara Barton, who founded the first public school in New Jersey and the American Red Cross. A projector showed the text and illustrations from the book on a large screen for the audience.
Fourth-grade students did their presentation based on the popular Magic School Bus books, and traveled back in time to colonial Bordentown to meet Ben Franklin.
Besides presentations, students displayed models and reports they had done throughout the year. One model was a replica of Bordentown during the 1850s, complete with telegraph wires.
Students even dressed in colonial style with tri-cornered hats, and served free food that reflected past times with ginger snaps and apple cider.
Fourth- and fifth-grade Clara Barton students did a walking tour of historic Bordentown City and sketched some of its many historic buildings. Later, students made a model of the home of Patience Lowell Wright, a sculptor and spy during the Revolutionary War, as it looked during her lifetime.