To celebrate the end of the school year, Sherwood middle school students (grades 6 through 8) organized and hosted a mini-Renaissance fair for younger students (grades kindergarten through 5th).
Kindergarten students Sawyer and Alexi show off their face paint
Students were encouraged to attend the celebrations in costume. Middle school students came early to decorate the quaint campus and set up the activity stations. Middle school teacher Laurie Burghardt explained that her students are fully responsible for running the stands, decorating, signing, collecting material and planning activities.
The day began with the town crier inviting the students to enjoy the festivities. Younger students then alternated through four stations run by middle school students, spending 20 minutes each. Stations included; the sign booth ‘Forgers of the Silver Stone’, the flower wreath stand ‘Smith’s Flowers and Stuff’, a make-up booth ‘Lady Heather’s Paint Shoppe’ and a maypole and percussion instrument stand ‘The Three Maidens’. The students alternated through the stations in groups of ten, each group being supervised by a teacher.
Middle school students Brian, Steven, and Alexander run the Forgers of the Silver Stone sign-making booth.
An early lunch of corn dogs (which was simpler and probably more popular than the traditional ren faire turkey leg) was served at the “Snugly Duckling”. A photo booth was open and fairy tales were being read across campus. Eighth graders performed Shakespeare monologues from Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet and Macbeth. The day ended with a jousting tournament.
Burghardt stated that her seventh grade students study the Renaissance. She pointed out the advantage of a multi-class school. She said, “What I really like about Multi-Age is that we can offer the older children something like this for the young children as a whole school activity.” She spoke highly of her students and said, “They are a great group of kids.”
Kindergarten, first and second graders enjoy the maypole in the Mini Ren-Faire of the Sherwood School (photos by Jaclyn Luna)
Secretary / Teaching Assistant Heather Miya said of the middle school students, “You just did a great job.” Her hard work was appreciated by staff and students alike. Second grade kindergarten teacher Julie Muzzy said her students had “so much fun” at the event.
Sixth grader Steven worked on the shield-making booth. He said he enjoyed teaching young children how to make shields. Brian helped run the sign stand and also said that he “can teach children to paint, it will help them become better artists”. The middle school students had created an impressive array of ornate shields as patterns for the younger students. Middle school student Anthony said he especially liked organizing the jousting tournament.
Middle school students Anthony and Maya help out at the maypole station.
Eighth grader Maybelline said she appreciated that the younger students could “walk around and have a lot of fun at different stations.” She explained that setting up the morning of the event was a bit of a challenge, as the set-up had to be done under time pressure. Seventh grader Maya estimated they began setting up at 8:20 a.m. for the festivities, which began at 9 a.m., including tying the ribbons to the maypole, though the decorations failed to indicate that it was in a rush to get them up .
The Sherwood School traditionally celebrates the end of the school year with a water play day; however, this event was canceled due to the drought and water scarcity.