When Drama Teacher Meghan Astrachan first called Society President Jessi Paladini from out of the blue to say her class would like to visit the Black Creek Site, Jessi was ecstatic to think that our site caught the attention of a prestigious school such as the Little Red Elizabeth Irwin Schoolhouse in New York City. Jessi offered not only a visit but also an archaeology study with archaeologist Bill Sandy, who works with the Society Pro Bono. On an October day in 2008, a large white bus drove into Maple Grange Park, and the society, Meghan, and the students met for the first time. The students, some in sandals and light jackets, giggled and chatted as they walked up the trail to the site. Within two hours of their being there, an unusual thing happened for an October day. About two inches of snow blanketed the ground! Shivering and wet, everyone piled into the bus and into their cars and went to the municipal center where the mayor, deputy mayor, and township clerk were awaiting them to welcome them and begin the PowerPoint presentation.

Megan Astrachan had written the play Spirit of the Ridge, which the students would soon perform. The play is based on the Lenape Indians and about the timelessness and necessity of friendship and peace, and the importance of connecting to the past. Coming to the Black Creek Site gave the student actors a “contextual” connection with the site and with the Lenape Indians.

On November 14, 2008, Jessi, Sally Rinker, and former township clerk Robin Kline went to New York City together to see the play. The students did an excellent performance under Meghan’s artful direction. In visiting the outdoor classroom at the Black Creek Site, the students had been able to not only learn about the Lenape Indians and their history in New Jersey but also to connect with the beauty of the landscape as an inspiration for critical and creative thinking, interpretation, personal experience, and dramatic performance.

The playbill for The Spirit of the Ridge, below, consists of the Black Creek Site landscape.