Historical characters like Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, Galileo, Attila the Hun and Shakespeare were alive and well Friday morning as they shared their biographies with students, parents and teachers from Trinity Classical Academy.
The costumes, monologues, dances and sword fights were part of the annual Medieval Times and Renaissance Faire for Trinity’s and Imago Dei’s fourth grade students.
“In fourth grade, we study from the Middle Ages to the Reformation of the church,” said Harmony Stickles, a fourth grade teacher at Trinity. “We called them to step into a character or a role, and the students can feel the success and accomplishment of the whole process.”
Four months ago, students began studying the time period and selected a historical character or order of society—like jester, blacksmith, goldsmith, serf, tailor and carpenter—to transform into during the Medieval Times and Renaissance Faire.
“This is the culminating event for the whole year,” said Emily Brown, a fourth grade teacher at Trinity.
The 53 fourth grade students studied their biographical figure, wrote a monologue of their character and created a two to four minute presentation of their figure, complete with costumes, props and hand gestures.
“They write whole speech themselves and then spend time in class to practice and research their characters,” Stickles said.
Student Ella Williams, 10, said she was excited to act and dress like her historical figure, Queen Elizabeth.
“She was a powerful woman during the Renaissance,” Williams said. “I’ve seen her in the past and wanted to be her.”
Ian Izakowitz, 9, who acted as Martin Luther said he enjoyed learning about how his biographical figure shaped history and started the Protestant Reformation.
“I learned that he wrote the 95 Theses and that changed history,” he said. “I learned a lot. We also read a book about Martin Luther.”
During the faire, students also looked on as sword fights between Attila the Hun and Clovis the Viking, and Alfred the Great fights and El Cid took place periodically throughout the event.
“It was a lot of fun,” said 10-year-old Adam Hirsch who acted as Alfred the Great. “We practiced for it.”
The students also would step away from their presentations to perform a dance inspired by Medieval Times and the Renaissance, which was choreographed by the school’s music teacher.
During her monologue, Emerald Lipis, 9, held up a flag she created that read “Thesus Maria” to replicate the banner her historical character, Joan of Arc, held during battles like the Hundred Years War.
“She didn’t use a sword to fight in the battle and encouraged her army with this flag,” she said. “I liked how she was really confident and she fought and cared about her army and gave her life up to God.”
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