On Tuesday, Nov. 8, fifth grade students at Wiscasset Elementary School attended a Portland Ovations Offstage school-time performance at Hannaford Hall on the campus of the University of Southern Maine.

The field-trip was made possible by a “Ticket to Ride” grant from the Maine Arts Commission, a program that provides funding to defray the cost of travel for Maine PreK-12 schools wishing to visit Maine arts-based venues and events as a part of a well rounded curriculum. Students and staff at WES are grateful for funding to attend this exceptional cultural event.

The performance was called “Living Voices: The New American.” It was the story of an Irish immigrant whose first steps in the United States took her through Ellis Island to New York’s Lower East Side, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory, and all the uncertainties of starting anew in America. The performance took students through an unforgettable journey of history using a combination of interactive performance and archival film.

Prior to the field trip, students participated in many lessons about immigration to prepare them for the experience. Classroom, music, art and library teachers all collaborated to teach students of different learning styles many aspects about this subject. During the performance, students proudly displayed their knowledge as the actress spoke to the audience about immigration and asked many questions. Wiscasset students were eager to share what they knew and participate in the conversation.

After the performance students were provided a writing prompt asking what they most enjoyed about the experience. Comments included:

“I like the 'New American' story because of how the actress actually interacted with the voices in the movie. I liked it a lot when she acted out factual historical fiction. I really liked the music because it really went along with the story. My favorite thing was that the actress let kids answer questions at the beginning and end.” — Damon Lincoln

“Thank you so much for inviting us to the immigration play. It was so fun to watch! I like the part with the Irish accent. You also helped us learn more about immigration. I liked how the actress let kids answer questions." — Emma Flavin

“The performance made learning about how the immigrants came to the United States fun. We learned how the immigrants came to America poor and hungry. We learned that by coming to America the immigrants were able to turn their lives around.” — Matthias Fanslau

“I would like to add that the sound effects from the performance made me feel as though I was on the voyage to Ellis Island.” — Austin Trask

The performance brought to life everything the students studied and it was a wonderful opportunity for students to see how performing arts can help us understand history and culture.