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Seventh-graders were lords, ladies and peasants for a day at Fisher Middle School's annual Medieval Faire.
History came alive as the students, dressed in period costumes, took part in outdoor games, stained-glass making, stitchery, fencing and falconry.
"When school got out, it looked like a little medieval town," said history teacher Donna Kennedy. "I think it was the best fair we've ever had."
The highlight of the day was a falconer, who brought a falcon, a hawk and an owl to the opening assembly.
"We walked in and sat down, and they had birds," said Kendall Knutsen, adding that the birds were flying over the students' heads.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Kevin McNair concentrates during a game of chess.
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Christine Scales says she enjoyed the falconry demonstration and attended a falconry workshop in the afternoon as well. "You got to see the birds up close and you got to hold them," Scales said.
"That was the hit of the day," added her mother, Ellen Scales, who was the coordinator for parent volunteers.
Another popular activity was the fencing workshop, put on by Principal Ken Lawrence-Emanuel, school aide Harry Dill and Lawrence-Emanuel's son. Lawrence-Emanuel says his son attends a local fencing academy, while Dill is an experienced fencer.
"It was fun. It's always great to get out there and mix it up with the kids," Lawrence-Emanuel said.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Elle San Juan is enthralled by a falconry demonstration during the morning assembly.
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Michael Scales attended the lesson. "You actually got to hold the sword, and you learned how to hit people," Scales said.
Scales' mother said her son "thought it was pretty cool, to fence off against his principal."
Scales was dressed as a knight—"some guy that goes around and kills people"—a role that he picked because he'd "rather be a knight than a monk or a serf," Scales said. His silver costume was constructed out of car sun shields.
Careen Ingle joined a workshop on costume design, where a professional costume designer looked over the students' outfits and gave feedback on the authenticity and historicity of their clothing styles.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Alec Frasier tries on an armored helmet.
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Ingle was a queen on the royal court that paraded into the assembly. "I walked in and everybody was cheering for me," Ingle said. "It was cool." Ingle rented her dress and wore a crown to symbolize her status.
"It just seemed like this year there were more kids who were dressed up," Kennedy said, with about 95 percent of the seventh-graders getting into the act, outfitting themselves as nobles or knights or commoners. While some rented their costumes, others made them with the help of their parents, as did Knutsen.
Knutsen, who was a princess in the royal court, spent a week putting together cotton, gold lamé and faux jewels to create her gown. Knutsen's dress was green because her social studies class was assigned the color; she says the other classes had to wear gold and white.
"It was really fun just to get dressed up," Knutsen said. She says she may wear the outfit for Halloween, donate it to the school or give it to her little sister, who can use it when she becomes a seventh-grader at Fisher.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Kevin Simon (far left) and David Burkhart (left) joust with fellow warriors Jermal Ladd (right) and Sean Goodison (far right).
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Although Christine Scales wore the dress of a noble, she says she was impressed by those who were dressed as peasants. "They were good. They were wearing aprons and brown shirts and stuff," Scales said.
Lawrence-Emanuel was similarly impressed by the coordination of the event. "It was incredibly well-organized by our seventh-grade history teachers Barry Siebenthal and Donna Kennedy," he said.
"It's just a great activity. The kids enjoy it so much that the teachers don't mind the extra work," Kennedy said. The fair is "something the kids will remember."
"The only change I see is more kids participating as they see the seventh-graders having so much fun the year before," Lawrence-Emanuel said. According to the principal, the school is exploring having hands-on activities for other students, such as some kind of Civil Warthemed event for eighth-graders and a Greek and Roman activity for the sixth-grade history classes.
Ellen Scales says the parents who witnessed the fair thoroughly enjoyed it. "They realized that it was a chance for kids to sort of do a living history," Scales said.
Knutsen says she learned not only what the people of those times wore and did but "a lot of what they ate, like bird and turkey."
"These are the kinds of activities that we really love to see at the middle school," Lawrence-Emanuel said.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad