A state representative and state senator greeted Clifton Park Elementary School students during a Constitution Day assembly Thursday, but it was a guest from 1787 that seemed to turn the most heads.
Dressed in flowy formal attire including a long, white wig, the woman introduced herself as Mercy Otis Warren, known to history as the only female to exact official influence on the formation of the US Constitution.
The third- through fifth-graders in the large audience figured out it was ESL teacher Teresa Cage, a frequent historical reenactor, but they still appeared glued to her person.
State Senator Pete Flores and State Representative Brad Buckley explained to students the importance of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Constitution Day, which is September 17, marks the day in 1787 the Constitutional Convention members signed the document at Philadelphia.
Speaking in character, Warren asked the students if Philadelphia was around and appeared relieved the city is still on the map.
More seriously, she explained that she wrote numerous letters to John Adams, the former president and one of the constitution framers, pushing for a Bill of Rights to ensure personal freedoms.
That document, she said, is what gives us the freedom to assemble together, to go or not to go to church and school and to protest the government among many other rights.
Without it, the dressed-up teacher said, the United States might have become a kingdom like the rest of Europe at the time.
Teaching the constitution, said Cage following the assembly, is critical to make sure that future generations safeguard the precious document and prevent America from slipping into a monarchy or even a dictatorship.
“They respond wonderfully. They love it. I’ve been doing historical reenactment for 40 years. They get to see a different side of what was going on in the world,” she said.
Mercy Warren was hidden from history until relatively modern handwriting analysis proved she was the author of influential letters to Patrick Henry and John Adams, Cage said.
Buckley, a KISD graduate who attended Clifton Park Elementary School, told students the Constitution ensures that they will be able to grow up, pursue further education, have a career and family without government interference.
U.S. Rep. August Pfluger, who was in Washington, D.C., offered a video message to students in celebration of the Constitution.
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