Mr. Willis goes over a student’s project dressed in Renaissance attire from head to toe. He wore a fur-lined grey and black tunic accessorized with a grey wig on his head and black tights on his legs.
Students sprinted across the school parking lot early this past Friday morning, trash bags strewn haphazardly across their projects as the rain pelted their skin. The Renaissance Fair was beginning in just a few minutes and everyone needed to be in place in the gymnasium.
Mrs. Wakelin’s, Mr. Willis’s, Mrs. Donovan’s, Mrs. Marzik’s, and Mrs. Mee’s world history classes hold the annual Renaissance Fair each year to showcase their students’ research on the Renaissance. Students will often dress up in costume for the occasion, and teachers follow suit.
Freshman Liam McIntyre plays his harp, using music from the time period he was presenting.
“Most of the history teachers here love the Renaissance,” Wakelin said. “The culture, the politics and the people are very interesting to explore.”
Inside the gym, tables were set up in rows from corner to corner, with giant posters on each wall depicting who was in which teacher’s class. Students decided to present their findings through a variety of different ways, each bringing the project to life.
Freshman Lea Baum’s model of the Villa Rotunda.
“I didn’t know if I could make it at first,” freshman Lea Baum laughed about her 3D model of the Villa Rotunda, “but I did. It turned out a bit smaller than my first plan, and I’m really happy with it this way.”
Mee said she loves getting the chance to talk to her students as she walks from table to table to view their projects.
Freshman Tyler Fauc scans his music sheets as he plays his own saxophone.
“I feel like this fair gives me the ability to get to know them better and their interests far better than I might in a 45 minute class,” she said.
The idea to put on a Renaissance Fair at LHS came from Wakelin and former LHS history teacher Mrs. St. Germaine after they went to a Renaissance Fair in Massachusetts a few years ago. What began as a small affair the LMC has grown large enough in the past couple years to be held in the gym.
Mrs. Marzik scores a student’s project after listening to his presentation.
It’s become a tradition that teachers like Willis look forward to doing with each new class of freshman.
“I enjoy the Renaissance Fair each year because it awakens us as teachers to what our learners can do and it awakens within the learners themselves what they can do,” he said.
