Second graders on the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus displayed their oratory competencies March 27 during the School’s annual Grade 2 Changemakers performance. Held onstage in George Hall in a museum setting, the event demonstrated students’ mastery of research material and their ability to present it.

Preparation for the annual Grade 2 Changemakers event requires significant research and presentation skills of students, who spend weeks beforehand studying historic luminaries and readying accurate portrayals. After selecting their historical figure, students began learning key facts about their characters – from their childhood interests to their most significant achievements in life.

In the final weeks, students considered how they might portray their characters onstage – writing scripts and developing costumes and props that would best tell their story in a performance setting. The result was an engaging live show, directed by drama and music teacher Stacey Posick, that featured a red carpet for our historical VIPs and a powerful “Be the Change” display at the front of the stage.

Students rotated through three large frames onstage, sharing their presentations and showing off their detailed outfits. Some of this year’s characters included Walt Disney, Bessie Coleman, Albert Einstein and Jane Goodall, among many others. Grade 2 closed out their fact-filled performance by enthusiastically singing “We Can Make a Difference” before joining their parents and teachers in the audience.

A video of Grade 2 Changemakers is available here. For photos from the event, visit our online gallery.