Date: 2/6/12 & 2/8/12
City, State: Yakima, WA
Venue Name: 4th Grade classes, Riverside Christian School
Number of Attendees: 35 Students, 2 Teachers
Volunteers involved: OnlyHitsCount, (and some help from Hayden :))
Pre-Event promotions: I just had discussions with the teacher and school principal.
Promotional material handed out at event: Tri-fold pamphlet, and a copy of the four questions.
Props used: A beautiful :o replica musket equipped with 16" bayonet and powder horn. Thanks Rizzin! ^:)^ Gotta love private school.
And, a 3-pack of 2 oz lead fishing weights with the loops cut off and filed smooth. These provided a close substitute for the .75 cal musket ball and left quite an impression.
We also hung multiple maps depicting the area covered by the alarm list riders, the layout of the Lexington green, the path of retreat from Concord, etc.
Booth cost: Does tuition count? **)
Good: The class has just completed their study of the French and Indian war and is beginning their study of the Revolutionary war. I was given an hour on each day, Monday and Wednesday. For many of the students, the telling of the events as taught by Appleseed was their first taste of our founding history. I knew we were on the right track when I walked to the front of the class on the second day and I was greeted with cheers! ::)
The more personal I made the stories, the more the class responded.
Examples: Isaac Davis was 46 y.o. This is probably close in age to many of your fathers, right?
The youngest on the green at Lexington was 16 y.o. How many of you have older brothers?
The students were very engaged both days and asked great questions like 'Why was the gun powder so important to them?' They also had thoughtful answers. When asked why the British broke and ran at the North Bridge, one boy responded with 'Because the Americans shot the officers.' O0
Bad: I was overoptimistic about how much information I would be able to cover in an hour. I had not accounted for the time consumed by all the great interaction with the kids. I intended to do the preliminary history and the First Strike on the Monday and the Second and Third Strikes on Wednesday, however I was only able to cover to the point where the Redcoats were arriving in Lexington on the first day, which caused me to have to condense some on the other end. :-[ In hind sight, I should have covered as much as possible on the first day, and any remaining time on the second day could be filled with Dangerous Old Men / Dangerous Dames, etc.
I encourage every instructor to work to arrange an event like this. Personally, it was far more rewarding than I ever would have imagined!
What a great interaction with those youngsters. Keep up the good work.
O0 O0
It'd be nice if more people could figure out how to do these... @)
See upcoming Urbana, IL post...
TE