Saugus High School’s 15th annual “Women in History” presentation on Monday highlighted six different authors with three faculty members and three students playing the women.
The women were Laura Ingalls Wilder (“Little House on the Prairie”), Louisa May Alcott (“Little Women”), Jane Austen (“Pride and Prejudice”), Nnedi Okorafor (“Lagoon”), Mary Shelly (“Frankenstein”) and Emily Dickinson (collection of poems).
All six actors dressed as their author and read a biography of each author’s life and what they wrote while they were alive.
Along with the actors, students from the American Sign Language class interpreted each author’s monologue for students.
“Reading is fundamental. Everybody needs to know how to read and the more you read, the more your world opens up. And I just want kids who don’t necessarily enjoy reading, to open up a book, whether it’s on the computer, on a laptop or in real life,” said Louise Willard, second in charge of the American Association of University Women and the career transition advisor at Saugus High.
The student actors who participated in the presentation were awarded a $100 gift certificate for the College of the Canyons bookstore, presented by the AAUW.
The three students who were awarded were 12th graders Abigail Mansur and Aminat (Nifemi) Arowolo and 10th grader Lan Miranda.
During the presentation, Debbie McIntosh, AAUW co-program chair and founder of the “Women in History” program, was awarded for her 38 years of service to the organization.
McIntosh was humbled and surprised when her name was called.
“This is a work of love for 38 years. I have had costumes that have taken up my home. And the accompanying props and things like that. Whenever I go on a trip, I’m always looking for something for my women,” McIntosh said with a big smile on her face.
She added that, since 2006, the program has portrayed over 226 women and has only repeated two women twice.
In doing this program, McIntosh said she has learned a great deal of history and about so many different women, it just adds to the magic of showing students about all kinds of women.
Students engaged in the presentation by doing word searches and answering questions about the authors to show their attentiveness and to learn about the special women, making the afternoon one for the books.
