EduHam, 'Hamilton' education program, shows Utah students exciting side of history
SALT LAKE CITY —
(KUTV) — More than 2,100 excited Utah students filled the Eccles Theatre in Salt Lake City on Friday to see the hit Broadway musical "Hamilton."
Students from 40 Utah high schools have spent the last few weeks studying Alexander Hamilton and founding era. It’s part the Hamilton Education Program, or EduHam. The integrated curriculum is provided to students across the country by the Gilder Lehram Institute of American History.
“These students go through a rigorous academic program. They learn how to analyze primary source documents from our founding era, they learn that history and then they apply that to their own creativity,” Tim Bailey, director of education with Gilder Lehram said.
The students were required to create a final performance that can be a poem, rap, song or scene integrated what they learned about the time period.
"I've always loved U.S. history and I've always loved theater, so this has kind of brought my two loves together," Bethany Mccumber, student at Walden School of Liberal Arts in Provo said.
Walden history teacher Mike Morrell said he loved to watch his students excitement as they discovered history.
“It’s really weird to have kids get excited about history. Before 'Hamilton,' in general, teaching them about the founding era was almost impossible. Kids would be sleeping,” Morrell said.
The matinee performance of "Hamilton" on Friday was the culmination of the student’s hard work. Select students were able to perform their final piece for the cast of "Hamilton." Actors took turns answering the kids questions.
“It’s showing students that the reality of history has so much impact on who we are and who we can be,” Bailey said.
