Bloomington High School North, Nikean, 2010, Page 78

Description:	X^\or Geoff Aiken and his U.S. HistoryI ■-class, passively sitting in their seats isI i far from normal. Aiken has his students\| up on their feet and actively learningJL about the wars that they study throughout the year. When teaching at Bachelor MiddleSchool, 14 years ago, Aiken created and instigated the reenactments of the Revolutionary andCivil War... with marshmallows. It was a successful learning experience and is now a tradition. To stay in character, Aiken dresses in realwartime garb that he rents from a costume shop.Its something that I look forward to, but itsalso a bit stressful due to having to manage theclasses with marshmallows flying through theair, Aiken said.To make it a little less hectic, Aiken moved theevent outside this year. That way he wouldnthave to worry about finding marshmallowssmashed in the carpet at the end of May.While outside, Aiken has his students line upin the official format that the soldiers would havefor the wars. He uses drill sergeant sayings likeabout face and forward march to instruct histroops. For the Revolutionary War, he only allowed his army to throw with their opposite hand T3u Samantha Stutsmanto portray the inaccuracy of the guns at that time.During the Civil War, however, they were allowedto throw with their correct hand to increase casualties as they did in 1861. This gave them moreof an idea of how many people were shot in bothconfrontations.During the reenactment, Mr. Aiken didnt treatus like students; we were barked at like real soldiers would have been, junior Brittany May said.The classes practiced different scenarios. Eachside would take turns throwing their bullets.Once the front row had taken their shots theywould bend over for the back row. A simulation ofa militia attack also took place and anyone whowas hit was forced to die. He had students falling on their faces, backs and sides to make it asdramatic as possible.Most students are not opposed to Aikens wayof teaching, although there is a slight controversyas to why the AP students dont do activitiessuch as these.The reenactment was fun and realistic, handson learning can be beneficial in any class, juniorRoss Newton said.social studies
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomnorth/id/6300
Collection:	Bloomington High School North

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