Star-Journbal Editor
For one dramatic moment, Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion — namesake of our county and hero of our country — laid stiff, arms crossed, sincerely dead on the red rubber floor in the Hillsboro Elementary gym.
When suddenly!
Much quicker than a digital camera could focus, old Francis leapt to his feet, as full of life as
An inspired 11-year-old.
Marion, portrayed by Tena Loewen, was just one of the icons of Early American History brought to life recently by 54 students from Doug Dick's 5th grade Social Studies classes.
The students spent almost a month researching their subjects, rehearsing their presentations, and, best of all, searching for costumes!
They presented their polished orations over and over to rotating clusters of younger students, parents and visitors.
It would be impossible in this space to describe their impressive get-ups. There were shawls and bonnets, wigs and hats and silver-buckle shoes. It looked like Philadelphia, 1776, not Hillsboro, 2006.
They dressed as Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Dolly Madison and Betsy Ross, sewing her flag.
The real Francis Marion, a Revolutionary War hero who pestered the British down in South Carolina, has been pushing up daisies since 1795, but thanks to Loewen, his exploits came alive again and again — and again.
"Marion County is named after him, so it was kind of fun to be living in the same place and play him," said Loewen, daughter of Dave and Joanne Loewen.
Like the others, Loewen looked high and low for her Francis Marion garb.
The frock coat and frilly shirt came second-hand from the Et Cetra Shop on Main Street. The three-cornered hat from the theater prop room at Tabor College.
The long golden braid of hair, thick as straw, and the energy she brought to her character, were all her own.
She gave so many all-out performances in an hour that she lost count. Afterward, she said with a croak, "I think I'm losing my voice."
There were lots of "excellent" grades given to the students by Dick, a self-described history buff.
He hopes to expand his classroom study time for Social Studies from two days to three days a week next year, giving him more time for hands-on projects, making history come alive.
"The best learning doesn't happen just reading a book and writing about it with a pencil and paper," he said.
