Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

June 7th was Mentor and Educator's Day at Fenway Park. So Team Michael J. Perkins School decided to play ball!



































Wait...who is up there on the Jumbotron ? It's our own Ms. Meadows! She is one of the educators being honored on the field. Ms. Meadows has taught in the Boston Public School system and at the Perkins for many years. She is retiring this June. She's so great, we would retire her number--if she had one!
































However wonderful, Ms Meadow is only one star from our team. Here she is, back in the dugout with Ms. Muenkel, another retired All Star, Ms, Dewire, and high-scoring Ms. Alert and Ms. McDonough. In the upper row, our temporarily benched Ms. Murphy (ready to play again in September).
















Ms. McDonough, our computer teacher, brought her family to help cheer on Team Perkins (and the Red Sox).






Art teacher, Ms. Yazbeck brought her nephew.














Thanks to our manager, Principal Brawer, we all had our red t-shirt uniforms.










But we already knew we were a team!

A lovely night for us and all Red Sox fans--the Sox shut out the Orioles, 7-0.

The Play Continued

The kids learned a lot of history while doing Evacuation Day, the Musical. They learned about how the colonialists increasingly resented the British having power over them. They also learned how the colonialists managed to drive the British out of Boston without bloodshed.

How? Well, here's the short story. Take a look...



















#1 General Howe and the Redcoats bragged about their power over the colonists.
A mistake!


















#2 The colonialists didn't like the British attitudes and actions.
























#3 The colonists asked General George Washington for help kicking the British out of Boston.



















#4 Henry Knox worked with General Washington in protecting Boston and the colonists by bringing cannons over the Berkshire Mountains to Boston. The British had no idea this was happening!



















#5 Eventually the British found out the hard way. The colonialists faced off against them on Dorchester Heights (which is right near the Perkins School!) Guess who won!



















The Redcoats left Boston and the curtain goes down on our play and this incident in history.

The play is over for this year. Amazingly enough, the kids got to sing a few of the best songs from it once more--this time in front of Boston's Mayor Menino AND the Governor of Massachusetts.

When? How? You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out!

Come Join Us!

If you've been following the blog, you'll know that it's almost time for the first annual production of Evacuation Day, the Musical!

If you're new to our blog, we'll give you some background. Several years ago we published our book, Why Do We Celebrate Evacuation Day? in the photocopied black-and-white version. A couple years later, we presented it to the world in glorious color edition with an ISBN number and a bar code. It's always available on Amazon and at the Perkins School. If you buy it directly from us, the proceeds go to the Perkins School College Scholarship Fund for Perkins alumni. Books will be on sale for $14.99 at the play (cash or check only).

The musical is going to get better each year too. As we teach our kids, revision is one of the most important parts of writing! Also next time we are going to make the play a multi-generational community event. So, if you'd like to sing and dance in public NEXT year, let us know!

If you want to see this year's version, there is some limited availability for the public. Here are the scheduled performances:

Thursday, March 15, 6:30 p.m.-a final Open Dress Rehearsal for parents, family members, and other interested visitors

Friday, March 16, 9:30 a.m. - a performance for audience of kindergarten to grade 2 students and their teachers at the Perkins. Additional seating available for family members, members of the community, etc.

Friday, March 16, approximately 10:30 a.m. - a performance for our grades 3 to 5 students and their teachers. Additional seating available.

Saturday, March 17 - Evacuation Day ! - a matinee at 1:00 p.m., open to the general public including, perhaps, Mayor Menino.

Our "theater" is not in the Perkins School. Performances are held in the brick building (known as the former Head State Building) next to our school's basketball court. The entrance is on Patterson Way in the Old Colony Housing Development. If you are using GPS to get here, the building's official address is 265 E. 9th Street, South Boston, MA 02127.




Hope to see you.

We're in the Newspaper!!!

Jennifer and the Michael J. Perkins are on the front page of The Boston Globe today.

The news is good!

We're getting a copy of the article to print on the blog as soon as we can.