‘Wright Bros.’ take flight at Weathersfield

LISA ADAMS/T.O. Acorn IT CAN BE DONE-Obediah Thomas, left, and Mark Beckwith as The Wright Brothers perform a comedy/musical to teach kids about the famous brothers and the importance of pursuing their dreams. The fun took place during an assembly Monday at Weathersfield Elementary School.

By Heather Milo

Acorn Staff Writer

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of America’s first flight, students at Weathersfield Elementary School took a trip back in time to the period of the Wright brothers. The school’s PTA arranged for traveling "edutainment" company Razzle Bam Boom to sing and dance its way through a dramatization of the historic event—the first airplane flight—and to teach a few important facts along the way.

Lynn Gormley, PTA Vice President, and Carol Anderson, PTA President, said Razzle Bam Boom came to the school for a performance on a different subject last year. The children’s response to last year’s show prompted a return invitation this year.

Singer-actors Mark Beckwith and Obediah Thomas told the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright, who made their famous flight on Dec. 17, 1903. The actors portrayed the brothers and various other characters in their reenactment of the events leading up to the historic flight.

Beckwith and Thomas used humor and song to keep the young students’ attention.

"What were the Wright Brothers famous for?" Beckwith asked the young children who were seated on the floor.

"They were the first two men to call up American Airlines and book a flight to Reno," Thomas answered, to gales of laughter.

The centerpiece of the production was a small-scale, but still sub-stantial model of the airplane. Student volunteers were thrilled to come up onto the stage and help piece together the plane, which was made of a snap-together frame with canvas stretched over the wings and tail.

While students watched their peers piece together the plane, "Orville" and "Wilbur" talked about how the Wright brothers decided on the design. They spent time observing birds in flight and shaped the plane’s wings to mimic the curvature of a bird’s wings.

Beckwith and Thomas incorporated historical context into the story, singing about the concurrent bicycle craze going on in America at the turn of the century.

The concept of following one’s dream was woven throughout the production. Students learned about the opposition the Wright brothers faced in the form of gossiping neighbors and negative publicity. They also heard about the Wright brothers’ contemporary peer, Otto Lillianthal, whose own model plane was launched before that of the Wright brothers. Unfortunately, Lillianthal’s attempt resulted in a crash that broke the pilot’s neck and the launch was a failure.

The dramatization of the flight at Kittyhawk called for student participation as well. Students Matt Singleton, Shannon Woolsey and Emily Higbee leapt from the audience to pose as reporters on the scene. Donning turn of the century caps and boater hats, the three asked pre-written questions of the Wright brothers’ press agent.

Singleton asked why the test flight was being held at Kittyhawk, which is on the coast of North Carolina, and was told that the ocean breezes there were strong and the sand provided a soft spot to land. Shannon Woolsey inquired whether people had flown in balloons at that time. While balloons had been used, their riders were at the mercy of the winds with no control over direction.

And Emily Higbee asked whether this was the Wright brothers’ first flight. According to Beckwith and Thomas, it was not. The brothers had been working on the plane for the past five years.

On the morning of December 17, at 10:35 a.m., Orville Wright flew the plane for a distance of 120 feet. The flight lasted 12 seconds.