Eighth-grade students at James Weldon Johnson College Preparatory Middle School, along with the Language Arts Department, hosted a Renaissance Faire and Elizabethan Feast on November 13.
The Renaissance Faire was the culminating event for the students’ month-long study of Shakespeare. It gave the students a taste of what Elizabethan celebrations were like during the early 1600's, and was a reward for their hard work and study.
To prepare for the event, students learned the history of how culture was reborn as the world came out of the Middle Ages. They had lessons on the cultural contributions of such Renaissance figures as Machiavelli, DaVinci, King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare. All students read and analyzed Romeo and Juliet, and had to memorize and perform their scenes in front of their class. Those judged as having the best performance earned a slot to perform at the faire.
Students dressed up as lords and ladies, kings and queens, and friars and apothecaries. Others acted as dancers, magicians, musicians, jugglers and singers.
The Renaissance Faire provided students with both an academic and dramatical approach to learning: students had to analyze quality literature with a historical approach, while also incorporating three different learning modalities (audio, visual and kinesthetic); and they learned about Renaissance style dance and music, as well as art work from that period. Many students created artwork that was used as scenery to decorate the gym.
The faire was organized by the eighth-grade English teachers Mollie Browning, Maika Williams, Melissa VonDolteren and Jillian Davies.
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