Going Medieval

POLSON — Shields rattled, swords were shaken and battle lines were drawn in the shadow of numerous castles and fortresses. While this wouldn’t have been strange for a Hollywood movie, it was an extraordinary day at Linderman Elementary on Thursday, April 26.

The entire fourth grade class took the school back hundreds of years to the Middle Ages with a medieval festival. All the students dressed up in costumes from the time period and each classroom had royalty, nobility, peasants, scribes, stewards and farmers. In the morning, they had a grand march around the school and spent the morning enjoying medieval entertainment in the form of puppet shows, music, dance and poetry.

After a feast fit for a king, the kids partook in medieval games of armor races, jousting, ball and chain melee and maiden in distress. With classes competing against one another, the Linderman gymnasium was just as loud and as electric as a Polson High School basketball game or volleyball match. All parents, students and community members were invited to come and watch the day’s events.

While studying the Middle Ages has been going on for years at Linderman, this is just the second year for the medieval festival.

“The medieval study and making castles has been a tradition for many years, we just added to it last year with the festival,” Linderman fourth grade teacher Tami Morrison said. “Students studied medieval times for about three weeks prior to the event. Teachers worked in teams to plan the each section of the day.”

Polson students learned many different aspects of medieval life, and it all culminated in one big day at the school.

“Feedback was very positive,” Morrison said. “One parent said that they weren’t sure the medieval study was going to be educational and was surprised at how much their son had learned. She reported that they had great conversations over the dinner table. Students had a great time.”

After the Grand March and entertainment, students chowed down a medieval feast, which was considerably different from just a normal lunchtime.

“Families donated hams, fruits, vegetables, cheese and buns,” Morrison said. “Some were also donated by Super 1. The goal was to make our feast fun. Students had to sit according to their rank. Nobility and royalty sat at the head tables, knights sat at another and all the peasants sat together. Students ate in order of their rank also.”

After the feast, kids enjoyed some games in the gymnasium. Kids were flying all over the gym in races or having some friendly competition with their chain and ball melee battles and jousting runs.

“The most rewarding or fun part of the day is hearing students say how much fun they had,” Morrison said. “Hearing this makes it worth all the hard work it is putting it together.”

Morrison said she would like to see the event and the Medieval Market, which takes place on the Linderman soccer field on May 4, continue at the school since it gives the kids a good glimpse into the past and perspective in the present.

“My students learned a lot about the parts of a castle, medieval weaponry and tools, knighthood, heraldry and about feudalism,” she said. “We learned that we are lucky to have the freedoms we have today.”