By Kristen Schwalm, Staff Writer
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. On Mon., Feb. 6th and Tues., Feb. 7th he came to visit Prince George High School.
Roosevelt (portrayed by actor Joe Wiegand) has a mission to educate and inform history students about his life and tasks he accomplished as president. Students enjoyed his visit because it helped them realize the hardships and challenges of being the president.
“Students that have an appreciation for history definitely got a lot out of his visit,” history teacher Nelson Britt said.
Roosevelt spoke for an hour and fifteen minutes. He spoke to the audience initially about the state of the union during his years as president, and at the end of his speech he took time for students to ask questions, while still in character.
“When Teddy answered my question, he did a good job answering it in a way that made it easy to understand,” junior Kris Harrison said.
His dialogue contained personal stories, stories about his presidency, and stories about his children. Students appreciated learning history in this manner, instead of the standard class lecture.
“I learned that Teddy Roosevelt was probably one of the most laid back presidents we had,” senior Nathan Kemp said.
In addition to Wiegland’s knowledge of the life of President Theodore Roosevelt, many were impressed by his theatrical talents.
“I really enjoyed the visit, because it was really interesting and he was a great actor,” sophomore Gwen Dunn said.
Wiegand has been to all fifty states playing the role of Theodore Roosevelt. He continues to portray himself as the 26th President of the United States.
For more information go to his website at: http://www.teddyrooseveltshow.com/
Rachel Pugh • Mar 29, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Ms. Hasley had our whole class pumped for Teddy’s visit—she had seen him in character before and raved at his extensive knowledge, enthusiasm, and obviously his acting skills. I definitely went into the presentation with high expectations, and Wiegand did not disappoint. He transformed into the President right down to the mannerisms! I really wish that PGHS would bring in similar presentations more often—as a student who struggles with keeping an interest in history, I really appreciated how he was able to liven up the presentation and leave an impression. I feel like I actually did learn from my experience.
Chloe Alexander • Mar 29, 2012 at 8:48 pm
Watching Teddy Roosevelt perform was beneficial in helping me understand the history behind it a whole lot better. It was also inspirational because my brothers are into theatre and I could see them going into something like that. Acting is used mainly for entertainment, but the fact that this is used as an educational tool is great. I hope it continues to be implemented in the years to come.
Becca Soon • Mar 29, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Being able to see this reenactment of Teddy Roosevelt as if he were still alive today was really cool to see. It was very educational but in a hands-on way. Joe actually really looks like Teddy and they way he told us about Teddy’s life was way more interesting to listen to than a history teacher. This experience was very beneficial because I learned a lot about Teddy Roosevelt but I also enjoyed myself. Joe Wiegand is an awesome actor too!
Brooke Dancy • Mar 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm
I went to this presentation for the first time this year and I thought it was extremely creative and interesting. Weigand’s portrayal of Teddy Roosevelt made you feel as if the 26th president was actually in our library. Listening to his stories helped me see that presidents were not much different from one of us seeing that they liked to just sit back and have fun sometimes. This was a great presentation and the article did a good job in showing how people were truly intrigued by Teddy Roosevelt.
Melissa Tomlin • Mar 29, 2012 at 5:52 pm
I thought this presentation was great of Teddy Roosevelt. If you did not know that he was died you would of been tricked by how much the actor looked like him and knew so much about his life. The stories that he told were very interesting and kept the audience interested.
Stephen Brockwell • Mar 29, 2012 at 12:43 pm
This performance was spectacular. Wiegand’s portrayal of Roosevelt was spot on. In fact, I saw a documentary on Teddy Roosevelt last week, and he even looks a lot like him! It was very accurate, very fun, and it was a form of teaching that most schools should learn from.
Nathan Britt • Mar 29, 2012 at 11:40 am
This guy was good. It was incredible how close he was to Teddy. From the mannerisms, to the phrases he used, to the way he looked..he was Theodore Roosevelt. His portrayal of the president was helpful for history students who were studying him at the time. He will now stick out to students more so than other less notable presidents.
Megan Jonson • Mar 28, 2012 at 4:09 pm
I loved Wiegand’s performance of Roosevelt! I was so entertained through all of the stories of Teddy’s life, it felt like we were really talking to one of our former presidents. I was actually disappointed when he started talking as himself, Joe Wiegand because he did such a fabulous job as an actor of making me believe he truly was Teddy Roosevelt that’s who I wanted him to be in my mind. It amazed me how different he was from his character and showed me how great of an actor he was. Due to his talent as an actor portraying Teddy Roosevelt I was so entertained, and I learned things that I could never have learned in a classroom.
Alex Crowder • Mar 27, 2012 at 11:22 am
I truly enjoyed Mr. Weigand’s performance. It’s so rare to see someone so enthusiastic about their work and role models! I hope he comes back, because he was simply wonderful to watch and very amusing. I learned a lot about Teddy Roosevelt, more than I thought I would!
Jordan Thompson • Mar 25, 2012 at 12:50 pm
I enjoyed the presentation of Mr. Joe Weigand because I admired the way he went into so much detail with his character and really focused on the positive things about Teddy Roosevelt’s life. I think he is a wonderful actor and he helped me know more about Teddy Roosevelt, including things I had not ever heard of. I hope that I will be able to have the opportunity to see Mr. Weigand perform again next year because I thoroughly enjoyed his impersonation of Teddy Roosevelt.
Sarah Beth Howard • Mar 24, 2012 at 7:57 pm
It was quite interesting watching him do the acting that entailed being the great Theodore Roosevelt. However, he definitely was the prime example of how a president should be. Even during his forties, he had the life in him that was akin to an 8 year old child. This only helped to emphasize his passion for his country, the common man, and the beauty he saw in nature. Theodore Roosevelt has always been one of my favorite presidents, but this actor still taught me things that I did not know about him. It was quite interesting when he said that he did a speech while having a bullet in his chest, and that he took midnight jogs to keep in shape and get some of that energy to go somewhere. This actor ultimately helped the students to reinforce the dedication and passion that this great president had in every aspect of his life.
Bradley Cooper • Mar 22, 2012 at 6:55 pm
The Teddy Roosevelt skit was a very educational and interesting experience that kept me on my toes. It definitely aided in my learning of history and of the time period. Wiegand was a talented actor full of knowledge of the man he is portraying.
Matthew Schneck • Mar 18, 2012 at 5:53 pm
I was given the privilege to witness this event from the front row and I can truly say that this actor lives out his part. The presentation was not only entertaining, but it was quite informative. Being an APUSH student, I feel that this Teddy Roosevelt presentation will help better prepare me for the AP exam. It is also interesting to see all of the other students’ comments regarding the presentation in the article above. Overall this experience was quite informative and beneficial to all students who attended.
Conner Stevenson • Feb 22, 2012 at 8:01 pm
I saw this last year and it was great. The guy does this for a living I believe. He really brings to life the president for all of us since no one really was alive to live it. It was kind of like living a bit of history in modern times. At one point,I even forgot it was an actor because he did such a great job of bringing the role to life. He even knew more than what we are taught by the books in class, so it was kind of a history lesson in a sense. He had to know a lot in order to talk for an hour and fifteen minutes roughly.