Wareham High School students learn about Founding Fathers in Boston
Wareham High School students took a trip to Boston on September 15 to learn about John Adams during the Amfoerican Board of Trial Advocates' annual James Otis Lecture held in the Massachusetts State House.
American Board of Trial Advocates was founded in 1958 and aims to preserve the Constitutional right to trial by jury, to promote the ethical practice of law, and educate young citizens about the rule of law.
Five Wareham students - Catherine Dumas, Wesley Fehskens, Cindy Pham, Elizabeth St. Germaine, and Christopher White - met in the Great Hall with 300 students from across Massachusetts.
“We got to sit in the Great Hall and hear different opinions about the Foundering Fathers," said St. Germaine.
The hall was filled with flags from every town from Massachusetts. The students spotted Wareham's flag.
The program, entitled "John Adams: An Independent Life," included scholars Professor John Ferling, America's leading John Adams scholar and author of 11 books on colonial and post colonial America, and Chief Justice (Ret.) Margaret Marshall, author of more than 300 appellate opinions and the first woman to hold the post of Chief Justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, America's oldest appellate court.
Students said they enjoyed learning about John Adams, James Otis, and their contributions in the creation of the U.S. Constitution.
“It was cool and interesting to hear from the Former Chief Justice Marshall concerning her most favorite Founding Father, John Adams," said Christopher White.
Fehskens said he enjoyed “the discussion about the Founding Fathers and how there are various opinions about them.”
Dumas agreed with Chief Justice Marshall’s opinion about John Adams. “He was one of the few Founding Fathers not to have owned slaves,” she said.Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine also did not own slaves.
Wareham High School teacher Henry St. Julien, chaperoned the trip and took the students to some sections of the Freedom Trial prior to the lecture. Cindy Pham enjoyed visiting the Old Granary Burial Ground.
