Hear ye, hear ye!

Decas Elementary students got a taste of Revolutionary War history during a lively presentation by the Freedom Trail Foundation on Monday.

Before the presentation, actors Anna Waldron and Tim Hoover gave student volunteers three-cornered hats and some brief instructions on how the performance would go.

"They're going to be helping us reenact the Boston Massacre, the Tea Party, and the ride of Paul Revere," Waldron explained.

The volunteers played the dual roles of Bostonians and Brits.

The production featured a simple set and multiple costume changes. And it wasn't just the volunteers who got involved.

The kids in the audience played the roles of angry Bostonians shouting, "Lobsterbacks go home!" They also played irate Town Meeting voters.

Hoover had the students take an oath to be a good audience, which in this case, meant something different than what the students are likely used to hearing when they're told to be "good."

"Do you guys think you can be loud and rowdy," Hoover asked.

He was answered with a resounding "Yes!"

The audience members were, after all, playing the roles of politically agitated Massachusetts voters.

"These Town Meetings, they were not quiet affairs," said Hoover.

Another fun little thing they threw out there was some subjunctive history: What did the kids think were some alternatives to dumping the tea into Boston Harbor to prevent the British from selling it (and, of course, taxing it) to colonists?

One student suggested burning the ships, but concern about the fire spreading to the homes of fellow colonists nixed that idea.

Another idea was to poison the tea.

"That's kind of dark," said Waldron.

The idea was ultimately shot down as the poisoned tea would be sold to colonists.

The presentation was an hour long, so Hoover made sure to emphasize that "there's so much more," and encouraged the kids to read up on the American Revolution at the library.

Eleven-year-old Madison Hayward said she walked away with a better understanding of what her forefathers fought for.

"I learned why they did all this," said Hayward. "I think they did it because people wanted to stand up for what they believe in."

Juzary Salim, 11, added, "they were trying to get their own rights."