Trinity & Levine Museum of the New South: Bringing History to Life

6 the trinity voice / spring 2016

GET INTO CHARACTER Local Charlotte actor, producer & instructor Sidney Horton leads Trinity’s 3rd grade students through a series of exercises to help them get into character and prepare for the vignettes they will perform at the Levine Museum of the New South.

PEACEFUL PROTEST Trinity 3rd graders pictured, who are now in 8th grade, reenact the Woolworth lunch counter protest that took place in Greensboro, NC, in the 1960’s. This vignette has proved to have a lasting impact over the years as our students bring this emotional and powerful day in Civil Rights history to life.

BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE Each year, Trinity’s 3rd graders work with Sidney Horton to write the vignettes for each exhibit at the Levine Museum of the New South. They learn the history behind the events and try to put themselves in the shoes -- literally and figuratively -- of the characters in order to re-enact those powerful moments in Charlotte’s history.

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember.

I do and I understand.

- Confucius

Trinity’s long-standing partnership with the Levine Museum of the New South is a perfect example of how our school has the longest hallways in the city. The exhibits in the museum truly become an integral part of the students’ learning in a meaningful way.

Our performance this year will be on May 10. Be sure to ask a 3rd grader about this transformative experience.

This is by far my favorite project all year long, taking the Trinity students down to Levine. There’s no better way to learn about history than to bring it to life.

I absolutely love this program!

- SIDNEY HORTON

Mandy Rencher 3rd Grade Teacher Wildcat Since 2000 Maggie Ritter 3rd Grade Teacher Wildcat Since 2011

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A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LEVINE MUSEUM OF THE NEW SOUTH

Trinity 4th grade student, Elise Exson, reflected on her experience reenacting the scene at the separate-but-not-equal water fountain. In this vignette, Elise’s role was an African American woman choosing to drink illegally out of the “white only” water fountain and ultimately being arrested for this action. She shared, “It made it come alive so I could see it before my eyes. If you were just told about it, it would be harder to think about how hard and horrible it was.

It helped me to understand it in a different way.”

BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE:

From the tenant farmers of the cotton fields to the bustling Charlotte skyline, students learn about the history of Charlotte and the New South. After learning about the growth of Charlotte from farmland and textile mills through the struggles of the Civil Rights era, students are ready to take on a role.

One group of 3rd graders becomes the children working in a cotton mill. They learn, as they are acting, that not all children in the South were able to go to school or receive an education. Another group of children take on the challenging job of becoming the four young men who sat at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, and refused to leave in peaceful protest

for civil rights. What would it be like to sit there having insults and food hurled at you because of the color of your skin? Other children have to imagine what it was like to work behind that lunch counter or to be a customer in the restaurant.

With Sidney Horton’s guidance, the children write each skit to act out the scenario as they imagine what life was like at that time.

the trinity voice / spring 2016

Have you ever looked at a museum exhibit and wondered what it would have been like to live in that historical time and under those circumstances? For the past 15 years, Trinity’s 3rd grade students have been able to do exactly that at the Levine Museum of the New South. With the help of local actor Sidney Horton, students bring the historical exhibits at the Levine Museum to life by becoming characters in various vignettes. Mr. Horton is a fixture in the Charlotte theatre community as an actor, director and instructor at theatres including Children’s Theatre and Actor’s Theatre. He shared, “This is by far my favorite project all year long, taking the Trinity students down to Levine. There’s no better way to learn about history than to bring it to life. I absolutely love this program!”