On the RUN!

By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
NITED SCHOOLS' NATURE trail became an outdoor classroom and theater this week as high school and elementary pupils staged a drama about the underground railroad.
Several weeks of study by Diane Gardner's first-grade pupils culminated with a drama as the class walked the trail pretending to be runaway slaves seeking the road to freedom.
As pupils climbed hills and crossed the wood plank bridges over creeks, they were met along the way by high school juniors and seniors who are members of Mary VanBuren's teaching careers class.
The high school students gave short drama presentations from scripts they researched and wrote themselves.
They told the pupils portraying runaway slaves to watch for homes that had quilts hanging outside and that specific quilt patterns were secret signals that those homes were safe houses for runaway slaves known as underground railroad "stations."
Portrayals
Chanel Wright portrayed Harriet Tubman, a former slave who led thousands of slaves to freedom. She said they might sometimes have to hide in garbage to cover their scent so that dogs could not find them.
Jake McEldowney portrayed Peg Leg Joe, an underground railroad conductor. His instructions were to rub onions on the bottoms of the slaves' feet to disguise their scent, and to follow the North Star, or to watch the trail for the prints of his foot and peg leg.
The first-graders had learned slave songs, including "Follow the Drinking Gourd," which is a song about using the Big Dipper and Little Dipper or Drinking Gourd star constellations to find the North Star.
Mandy Foster portrayed one of the conductors who helped the slaves along their route to freedom. She said her family owned a plantation and 50 slaves, but she believed slavery was wrong, so she secretly helped slaves escape.
Slave catchers were after the $200 bounty on each slave and said they could become rich if they caught a lot of them.
Slave owners were angry over the loss of property.
Abolitionists' help
Some students portraying abolitionists gave the elementary pupils apples or muffins and a penny each, to demonstrate that the slaves sometimes received food and money as well as a safe place to spend the night.
They warned that not everyone opposed to slavery was willing to help.
Alison Shaffer's character was a woman who said that although she and her family were opposed to slavery, they could not help for fear of being punished. She said she'd just read in a newspaper that a family who helped runaway slaves was fined $100 and lost their property.
The way to Canada
The elementary pupils learned that a common route on the underground railroad was across the Ohio River through Ohio to Cleveland, then across Lake Erie to Canada, where they would be free.
They were told that shiny objects would reflect moonlight and show slave catchers their position. Talking while crossing water was dangerous because sound travels well over water.
At the end of the trail, high school students told the pupils they had arrived at the shores of Lake Erie. When they crossed the lake into Canada, they would be free and would find settlements of free slaves where they could begin their new lives.
Grant received
Gardner received a grant from the Carnation Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa to fund the underground railroad unit.
VanBuren said creating the drama was good practice for her students because it showed how to create lessons that make learning fun and memorable.