Byline: Kari Hartman Daily Herald Staff Writer
Still Middle School sixth-graders recently learned there's a world of difference between the world of today and the world of the Middle Ages.
Take, for instance, the sports girls now play. In medieval times, girls could merely watch from the sidelines as men competed. Organized sports for girls didn't exist then.
And the early sporting competitions themselves were a bit different - jousting and arm wrestling were quite popular, for example. Spectators watched men compete in these arenas rather than, say, football and soccer.
'We want students to know life was a little bit different in the Middle Ages,' sixth-grade teacher Jennifer Coombs said.
Sixth-graders at the Aurora school tasted this old world first- hand during a Medieval festival, an annual event at Still and other Indian Prairie Unit District 204 middle schools.
Still students dressed as knights or in flowing gowns. They practiced a bit of chivalry and adapted their table manners to the era during a banquet.
They spent most of the school day portraying the time period.
'They really enjoy it,' Coombs said.
'It's a day they can get away from class work and still be learning.'
