The best stories come from real life, and that’s the case with a show featured as part of this year’s virtual Colgate Classroom Series. Students have the opportunity to learn about an amazing Black mathematician thanks to Syracuse Stage’s Resiliency, a virtual arts education experience using the play Commanding Space: The Rise of Annie Easley and the Centaur Rocket.  

The education unit is based on the life of Annie Easley, a Black woman who worked for 34 years at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, known today as NASA.

When Easley was hired as a computer in 1955, she was one of just four African Americans out of 2,500 employees – a true trailblazer in her field. Easley quickly realized her dream was to be on the team of mathematicians working to launch the Centaur Rocket.

During her life, she saw many incredible changes both in the workplace and in the country at large. Annie’s resiliency is a personality trait that helped her to succeed despite adversity. Her mother always told her that she could be anything she wanted to be as long as she worked at it and that instilled in her a drive and determination that led to her long and groundbreaking career.

Syracuse Stage produced a play about Easley’s life, Commanding Space: The Rise of Annie Easley and the Centaur Rocket by playwright Stephanie Leary, and took it to schools in their area.

“It brought me such joy to be able to introduce to a lot of students who don’t have access to theater to such a wonderful show about such a strong, beautiful human that really teaches them the importance of striving for something,” said MiKayla Hawkinson, stage manager for the original production of Commanding Space and community engagement and education specialists with Syracuse Stage.

Because of the impact of the stage production, Syracuse Stage wanted to find a way to take Easley’s story to a larger group of students.

Resiliency is targeted toward grades 2-8, but the lessons about the importance of resiliency taught through the lens of a Black woman mathematician in the age of Jim Crow, are applicable to all. The virtual arts experience includes clips from the original play about Easley but students also get to hear from the actor who plays Easley and the playwright and learn how their own resiliency has helped them.

Ultimately, this story about a bright, driven, resilient young woman of color gives us a personal glimpse into her life, her dreams and her challenges. And Easley’s drive and determination encourages all of us to cultivate our own resiliency tools to reach our goals.

For more information on Resiliency and other virtual educational arts experiences available to Arkansas teachers through the Colgate Classroom Series, visit our website.