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Turner students get medieval

April 07, 2016 | Local News

By Bob McDonnell
The Surveyor

Justin Schnedecker, portraying and executioner, says he likes that he can hide his identity.
All photos by Bob McDonnell / The Surveyor
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For a couple of hours on Friday, April 1, the gymnasium at Turner Middle School (TMS) traveled back in time.

All seventh-graders, led by teacher Danielle Balliet, showed what they have learned about medieval times. Either individually or in groups of up to four, the students displayed items, activities and foods related to the medieval years.

Balliet stressed the students learned historical aspects of the era and used authentic items whenever possible. All work occurred outside of school hours, according to Balliet.

An additional aspect and learning experience of this event was entrepreneurship. All the students, along with parents and siblings attending the fair, received tokens. Attendees used this currency to buy goods at the various tables.

Items available for purchase included jewelry, soaps, masks, scrolls, crowns, wood-burning art and hand painting. Food vendors offered soda bread, dipped apples, soup and chicken wings, among other things. A couple of booths featured drinkable “potions.” Riley Grave, along with her booth partner Chloe Lowry, offered an option of a blue or green potion. “It’s very strong,” cautioned Grave, commenting on the taste, not the effect of the drink.

One industrious group of TMS students built a scale model trebuchet able to launch projectiles. Other students manned a booth where small catapult-like devices were for sale.

Eleanor Giles, a student with a love for art, painted intricate henna art designs on hands. She used mud from Henna, India.

Sarah Kouns, a baton twirler, spun long sticks with “fire” on them. Due to school regulations, the fire code and common sense, shiny red and orange paper replaced any actual flames. Kouns did say she has twirled with fire before.

Jamie Ellwardt, who likes to wear jewelry, displayed her handcraft necklaces.

Court jester, Kellan Oliver, entertained the crowd with jokes and his overall good wit and charm.

The royal court who presided at the event consisted of Elle Dodd, Bela Malcheiebe, Beau Schnackenberger and Eli Greenslit. Easy had to compose an essay stating their desire to be part of the fair’s royalty.

This year’s TMS Medieval Fair proved to be a success. Some vendors ran out of items to sell early, attesting to the popularity of their wares.

 

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