Junior Winter Smith was offered the opportunity to represent the famous Hamilton play in Utah.

Hamilton is an American play about the life of Alexander Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda . In February of 2017 Hamilton offered a show to over 1,800 students from different CPS schools in an effort to educate students about  the life of Alexander Hamilton.

Smith was recognized after she wrote a rap about the Boston Tea Party as a part

the curriculum. “The program enables students in select cities to view a matinee performance of Hamilton after participating in a rigorous curriculum through US History classes. As part of the curriculum, students study primary source documents of our Founding Fathers. Students are required to create performance-based interpretations of what they have learned in the form of a song, rap, dance, monologue or scene,” said Mrs. Fairchild, who helped bring the program to Phoenix.

The program responsible for the Hamilton at schools, EduHam, emailed Phoenix’s counselor Ms. Fairchild about flying Smith to Utah to represent them after they were impressed by Smith’s  rap.

“ At first I didn’t want to do but everyone kept motivating me and I began to get excited after my first performance in Chicago,” said Smith.

During the two day stay in Utah, Smith was bombarded with press conferences and interviews followed by  a performance in front of Lin-Manuel’s parents, who are supporters of the program.

Smith relied on the support from her family and friends to build the courage to perform.

“ When I first told my family they told me that I’m star that they always knew I would be a star,” said Smith.

This is an experience that Smith will never forget, thanks to EduHam and Mrs. Fairchild.