After learning about the revolutionary Boston Tea Party, fourth graders at Harold McCormick Elementary School had their own tea party to show appreciation for the rights guaranteed to them through the efforts of early colonists.
Students didn’t disguise themselves as natives, climb aboard ships and hurl tea valued at over $1,000,000 into the Boston Harbor like the colonists did, but they did sample tea while discussing the importance of representation in return for taxation.
Eli Guess, a student in Brandi Erwin’s social studies class, said the Boston Tea Party was one of the sparks that began America’s war for independence, along with the Boston Massacre.
Between the two social studies classes of Erwin and Denise Kind, students voted for raspberry and blueberry teas as their favorites, a demonstration of the importance of having a voice through voting — a right guaranteed to all citizens by the U.S. Constitution, which was signed at the end of the Revolutionary War.
In reflection of the statement made by the throwing the tea into the ocean, student Rheagan Haynes recalled, “It was not really a tea party at all.”
Another historical event whose name, when literally interpreted, is somewhat of a misnomer was the “shot heard around the world.”
“The first shot was fired, but it was not really heard all around the world,” said student Karie Merritt. “It killed eight colonists and began an eight-year war, though the Constitution wasn’t signed for eleven years.”
She and others explained that it earned its name because the whole world heard about it and because it began a revolution.
Eagerly recounting the events that led to America’s freedom from England, students said the battles that took place, like at Lexington and Concord or at Bunker Hill, were often cold, difficult and deadly. At Valley Forge, many civilian soldiers led by George Washington had no shoes and had to take a break from battle to amputate their feet and legs.
“Everywhere they stepped, they left blood in the snow,” explained student Victoria Frakes.
These and other harsh realities defined many of the battles which ultimately ended by guaranteeing Americans the freedoms that they enjoy today.
In an election year, and with Presidents’ Day approaching, the students at Harold McCormick were grateful to be able to toast to their freedoms over cups of tea.