I've created this webpage to curate videos and other documents that pertain to my mother, Priscilla Lates.

Priscilla Lates 100th-anniversary biopic

Episode 1: Early years: Growing up and getting married

Episode 2: Having children and moving to the suburbs

Episode 3: Teaching, building a house, and family trips

Episode 4: Separation, divorce, MA degree, and Naropa

Episode 5: Travel abroad, innovative teaching, grandchildren, and retirement

Episode 6: Final years: Time with family, selling the house, moving to assisted living

Use Your Gavel, Mr. Adams!

Use Your Gavel, Mr Adams! is an elementary school play written by Priscilla Lates in 1984 and performed by her 4th grade students from Columbus Elementary School at the Thomas Paine Cottage in New Rochelle, NY in 1987. It is a fictional account of a town meeting, circa 1776. © 1984 Priscilla Lates. Download the complete script here [pdf].

Cast of characters:
Matthew Polisky as Samuel Adams
Michael Schiavone as Town Crier
David Neglia as Benjamin Franklin
Claudine Williams as Thomas Jefferson
Herbert Trinidad as Thomas Paine
Christian Cauterucci as Paul Revere
Christopher Brown as George Washington
Roger Jones as Patrick Henry
Arthur Young as John Hancock

Patriots: Dawn Natlo, Rosa Acocella, Brian Ramos, Patricia Lange, Veronica Cruz

Loyalists: Michelle De Salvo, Oscar Mendoza, Nadia Caporale, Renee Dash, Joseph Ingrao, Anthony Smith

Special Thanks to The Huguenot Paine Historical Association
Education Program Chairperson: Mrs. Florence Stapelton
New Rochelle City Historian: Mr. Tom Hochter
Columbus School Principal: Dr. Lois Zabriskie
Assistant Principal: Mary Anne Peluso

Video Taped at Thomas Paine Cottage, New Rochelle, New York, June 18, 1987
Video Taped and Edited By John Resk

© 2025 J. Ochshorn. All rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Republishing material on this web site, whether in print or on another web site, in whole or in part, is not permitted without advance permission of the author.

First posted 19 April 2025. Last updated 2 May 2025