Windsor Creek Elementary students get a dramatic history lesson

‘President’ says, ‘Do your chores, keep your agreements,
keep peace’
by NATHAN WRIGHT, Staff Writer
If you ask any student at Windsor Creek Elementary, they’ll tell
you that Abraham Lincoln showed up at school for his birthday last
week.
Lincoln is, in fact, still dead, but a man who looks an awful
lot like him is very much alive and enjoys teaching kids about the
sixteenth president of the United States.
“I would like to remind you that I’m a figment of your
imagination,” said Roger Vincent, the Lincoln look-alike. “I’m not
really here, I’m dead. I had to get up out of my grave to be here
today.”
Vincent performed for the entire school in the multi-purpose
room last Thursday. The assembly, paid for by a $100 grant from the
Windsor Educational Foundation, provides students with a unique
glimpse of the Civil War president.
If Vincent was born to take on any role other than himself, it
has to be Lincoln. Before the assembly, Windsor Creek Principal
Maureen Grafeld escorted him through the halls of the school. Every
time she passed one of her students, she would ask, “Who is he?”
Her students, without fail, replied “Lincoln.”
Even an attempt to confuse her students didn’t work. Grafeld
introduced Vincent as another famous president. “We have George
Washington here today,” she began, to the insistent objection of
her students.
“No he’s not,” called out one of the students. “It’s Abe
Lincoln!”
After the introduction, Vincent spoke for 30 minutes about
Lincoln’s life, beginning with his birth and ending with his
assassination. Vincent spoke of the famous Gettysburg Address, of
his disagreement with slavery, and of his insistence on
honesty.
He even told a story about why Lincoln grew his beard.
After the assembly, students raved about the performance.
“Amazing, he looks exactly like him,” said third grader Torin
Berman.
Classmate Hailey Witt agreed. “It was really incredible because
he looked so much like him,” she said. Both students said they
learned a lot from Vincent.
According to Vincent, it takes a great deal of research to
prepare his Lincoln presentations. Once a teacher himself, he has
been performing the Lincoln role for the last 16 years.
Vincent is a member of the Association of Lincoln Presenters,
and needs only to darken his hair and put on his costume to look
the part. Vincent said that, on average three new books are
published each year about Lincoln. He reads them all, passing on
what he learns to his student audiences.
“I think it’s important for the kids to know their history,” he
said. He emphasizes three specific themes with the students: “Do
your chores, keep your agreements, and create peace,” he said.