Actress brings history to life for local students

A visiting actress entertained grade school students at nine schools in the county last week on an educational tour.

The Living Voices program, here on a grant awarded to Whitman County library, offered students a choice of four program; Young People During the Holocaust, the Journey to America, Becoming American in the early 1900s and Fighting for Women’s Right to Vote.

A video on immigrating to the U.S. plays in the Garfield school gym.

Actress Brit Boyd with Living Voices out of Seattle presented the programs.

Boyd narrated the life of an Irish woman’s immigration to the U.S. for her stop at the Garfield grade school.

Approximately 60 students watched as Boyd dramatized the reasoning that went into an Irish woman’s decision to immigrate to the United States.

“You could even get a job in America,” she said, imitating an Irish accent.

“I liked how she had the attention of the kids. The information was well thought out and put together,” said Sheri Miller, youth services manager for the library.

The grant for the visit was coordinated by Whitman County Library. The $4,000 Supporting Student Success grant was awarded to the library by the Office of Secretary of State.

The funds also paid for non-fiction children’s books for the Colfax library and the Jennings Elementary library in Colfax.

The funds paid for a conference for teachers in November on teaching social studies to students.