Best of times CPA style! APRIL PAW PRINT Carey Dincauze, 7th Grade English Teacher
Each year the seventh grade teachers and students, with the help of many parents, put on a Renaissance Festival celebrating the spirit, culture and literature of that time in British history. It is an extension of Renaissance studies from World History, but the festival encompasses an introduction to Shakespeare’s language and plays, a popular dance of the time, period art and architecture, participation in a live chess game, the scientific creation of Goo (some compound for which I don’t know the Elizabethan name), and period costuming. Two weeks before the festival, students are treated by Vickie Foltz to an introduction of Shakespeare’s biography, language, and setting. Then students are chosen to act out certain truncated scenes from several of his plays, which Vickie writes for this occasion. These scenes are chosen for their high interest to students and their value in teaching students many of Shakespeare’s “tricks.” Some of the students are also taught a Renaissance dance. The day before the Renaissance Festival, students participate in centers. They make mosaics, mini Sistine chapel drawings (lying on their backs and draw on paper taped to the underside of a chair), stained glass windows, Goo, and play live chess for which penitence is required for certain infractions. Students also have the opportunity to create shields decorated with crests, make their own costumes, design Renaissance hats and crowns, and engineer scaled models of castles. All in all, there is a high degree of student involvement and interest in exploring many facets of the English Renaissance.
Of course, no Renaissance Festival can be successful without the creative, willing hands of many parents. From the decorating of Lion’s Paw Castle to the preparation of Elizabethan type food and drink, parents play an invaluable role. As a teacher, I really look forward to working side-by-side with new moms as well as veteran moms. The Renaissance Festival is due as much to these volunteers as it is to the students and teachers. Equally important are the parents who come to see their children’s artwork and the performance. This year it was especially gratifying to look at the audience and see so many fathers who had taken the time from work to be present. There was also a wonderful representation of grandparents. The laughter and smiles accompanying the performers’ efforts were indicative of the honor God bestowed on these special spectators for their efforts in coming to the Festival. Perhaps some were pleasantly surprised at the “hidden” talents of their children, which brought to light another important fact.
Student involvement in the festival program was at an all-time high this year. Performers worked arduously to prepare for their performance, dance, or the reading of their Psalms, but they still enjoyed themselves! Even the students not involved in the performance showed remarkable maturity and enjoyment in helping with the extensive preparations. The bottom-line goals of the Renaissance Festival are to provide an opportunity for students to learn of a time in history, using an integrated technique, to provide parents an opportunity for involvement, and to provide students with an opportunity to serve their parents. Are the hours spent in preparation worth the experience? Pictures are worth a thousand words. Many pictures were taken of a gym full of parents and grandparents laughing one minute and contemplating the heart words of a seventh grader the next. These images confirm the time spent was indeed well worth it.
