已经连续四年了, Ravenscroft's student-led fundraising team for Crucial Catch has been recognized as the top fundraising school in the nation, 超过了30美元的目标,超过6美元,000, 并再次获得了著名的粉鞋奖.
杂耍, 参加比赛, 剑战斗, 摔了将近20年, Ravenscroft students practiced these and other unusual skills in preparation for the 中学’s annual Medieval Festival. The daylong 事件 — and the weeks of work leading up to it — remain fond memories for many alumni and former faculty and staff.
Language arts teacher Carol Smith held the school’s first Medieval Festival in 1971 as a way to increase her eighth-graders’ understanding and appreciation of Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th-century masterpiece, 《新葡京线上娱乐》.” With the arrival of colleague Elaine Cottrell the following year, the festival grew into a schoolwide extravaganza featuring performances, 马上长枪比武竞赛, 一场精致的盛宴等等. 家长兼受托人弗兰·普甚至有马, sheep and other livestock brought to campus from nearby Tara Farm to add authenticity to the day’s 事件s.
校友回忆制作服装, researching and portraying different roles and setting up booths to display their work. Timothy Tippett, 78年 created a lute-inspired instrument from a gourd and performed “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” 艾莉森·史密斯·沙克尔福德，83年 为了扮演吟游诗人，她学会了扬琴. Angie DeMent ' 81 还记得在一个短剧里扮演乔叟的传奇人物巴斯的妻子.
米歇尔·理查兹·纳塔莱78年 参与了1974年电影节的几个项目. “我画了城堡背景的设计, which was built by my grandfather’s building company as I recall, and I did much of the painting of the ‘stones’ that decorated it,她说. “我为牧师做了一套服装. 基督教会的丹尼尔·萨普，他的儿子, 丹, was a Ravenscroft student — for his role as the Archbishop of Canterbury. I also made and designed my own elaborate costume out of cast-off drapery fabrics. The fabric for the Archbishop’s costume was gold-hued upholstery brocade. 我母亲总是在回收家具之类的东西, 这些是房子周围的材料!”
Members of the Class of 1977 dress in costume for the expanded festival of 1973.
Cottrell (shown here in 1981) is credited with expanding the festival into a schoolwide celebration of Middle Ages culture.
Live performances by students add excitement to 1977’s festival.
Eighth-graders set up booths from which to display their wares and skills, 如1977年乌鸦号拍摄的照片所示.
威廉(“本”)罗斯83年 fondly recalls his role at the 1979 festival despite an unfortunate glitch: “When it came my year, 我想成为一名铁匠，并得到了这份工作. 我记得, 虽然, we could not get the oven going and were basically unable to do much creating that day. But we had the tools we made practicing and displayed them proudly.”
去坎特伯雷的朝圣-象棋, 杂技演员, 铁匠, 一个炼金术士, lots of good food and various vendors of unique wares characterized 五月 for the middle school … Though the 事件 was early getting started it ended all too soon for the enthusiastic pilgrims. The festival of 1981 now joins the history from which it arose.
- 1981年的乌鸦
Faculty and staff outside the Language Arts Department got involved, too. 退休P.E. 教师兼教练吉米·考克斯回忆道:“P.E. Department helped the students in their preparation for the 事件. 我记得 one person teaching tumbling and another teaching students to do tinikling, which is dancing between sticks that are touched to the ground and then to each other in rhythm. I taught some boys simple juggling skills as part of their act. 这个节日非同小可，P.E. 老师们很自豪能成为其中的一员. We, 当然, attended the festival to not only watch our students but to enjoy a remarkable feast that words cannot do justice to.”
Former 中学 Director Bruce Miller remembers students 参加比赛 with cardboard tubes and playing chess on a life-size chessboard as well as staying up all night with football coach Bill Sewell and parent volunteers to roast a whole pig for the feast. 他还回忆起有一年天气看起来不妙. “I didn’t have the heart to call off the outdoor 事件 and move all of the tents, 室内美食和乐趣,他说. “当然, it did rain — hard — and everything had to be moved into the 中学 Gym in a hurry!”
Creative teachers conceived of the Medieval Festival as a way to engage 中学 students in literature, 但它成为了Ravenscroft的重要组成部分. 今天, the festival remains a beloved symbol of Ravenscroft’s distinctive approach to immersive, hands-on learning — and a source of cherished memories for many Ravens.
学生 participate in a life-size game of chess in this 1981 photo.
阅读更多 memories about the Medieval Festival (and share your own) in this post on our 校友脸谱网主页.
彩色照片由Carol Miedema提供.