Students traveled back to medieval times after a week-long lesson plan culminated in a festival that celebrated the food, dancing, costumes and traditions of the period.
Dressed in costumes they made, the sixth-graders paraded through the hall to the school’s cafeteria so that students in kindergarten through fifth-grade classes could see what they looked like. In the cafeteria they held a ceremony led by John and Sharon Bromka, medieval experts, which included a medieval feast and dancing.
Mary Tomaso, assistant principal, said they held a similar medieval day three years ago.
“We enjoyed it so much we asked the Bromkas to come back,” she said.
The Bromkas, founders of the Sterling Renaissance Festival, spent a week working with the sixth-graders. The week was split up when there were two snow days at the end of last week.
Sondra Bromka said they worked on several aspects of the era to give the students a complete medieval experience.
“We work towards authenticity,” she said, adding they try to dispel the rumors perpetrated by “Hollywood.”
Students made their own costumes and designed their own dances. They also wrote and bound their own book, as they would have done in the times of the Renaissance.
“We worked a lot on etiquette. That’s a very big part of it,” she said. Etiquette included not sitting down at a table until everyone is ready to do so.
Dominick A. Scalise, of Dominick’s Deli, catered the event with traditional medieval food that was given a twist for the kids to enjoy. He found something that was pretty common and also a kid favorite: mac and cheese.
“Every recipe list started with some sort of (recipe for) egg noodles with a cheese sauce,” he said, called Makerouns on the menu.
Also on the menu were meatballs seasoned with fennel, sage and cinnamon. He said whole lambs and fish were common from the time, but he toned it down for the festival. There was also roasted chicken with sage, peas with bacon and crispy flatbread with honey butter.
“I enjoyed that we didn’t just read out of a book,” said Angelo Marroccolo, a sixth-grader. “I liked that we actually experienced it. The music was great.”
Tomaso said the festival was possible because of the Arts Infusion Program, a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts from the Stanley Center of the Arts. The $2,200 grant provided funds for the costumes, the feast, and the Bromkas’ residence at the school.
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Students traveled back to medieval times after a week-long lesson plan culminated in a festival that celebrated the food, dancing, costumes and traditions of the period.
Dressed in costumes they made, the sixth-graders paraded through the hall to the school’s cafeteria so that students in kindergarten through fifth-grade classes could see what they looked like. In the cafeteria they held a ceremony led by John and Sharon Bromka, medieval experts, which included a medieval feast and dancing.
Mary Tomaso, assistant principal, said they held a similar medieval day three years ago.
“We enjoyed it so much we asked the Bromkas to come back,” she said.
The Bromkas, founders of the Sterling Renaissance Festival, spent a week working with the sixth-graders. The week was split up when there were two snow days at the end of last week.
Sondra Bromka said they worked on several aspects of the era to give the students a complete medieval experience.
“We work towards authenticity,” she said, adding they try to dispel the rumors perpetrated by “Hollywood.”
Students made their own costumes and designed their own dances. They also wrote and bound their own book, as they would have done in the times of the Renaissance.
“We worked a lot on etiquette. That’s a very big part of it,” she said. Etiquette included not sitting down at a table until everyone is ready to do so.
Dominick A. Scalise, of Dominick’s Deli, catered the event with traditional medieval food that was given a twist for the kids to enjoy. He found something that was pretty common and also a kid favorite: mac and cheese.
“Every recipe list started with some sort of (recipe for) egg noodles with a cheese sauce,” he said, called Makerouns on the menu.
Also on the menu were meatballs seasoned with fennel, sage and cinnamon. He said whole lambs and fish were common from the time, but he toned it down for the festival. There was also roasted chicken with sage, peas with bacon and crispy flatbread with honey butter.
“I enjoyed that we didn’t just read out of a book,” said Angelo Marroccolo, a sixth-grader. “I liked that we actually experienced it. The music was great.”
Tomaso said the festival was possible because of the Arts Infusion Program, a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts from the Stanley Center of the Arts. The $2,200 grant provided funds for the costumes, the feast, and the Bromkas’ residence at the school.
