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Carol O'Hagan and Karen Peery, who teach at Rockhill and Conway elementary schools, respectively, toured several areas, including a re-created Powhatan Indian Village, 1607 ships and a Continental Army encampment.
The weeklong institute in July -- attended by 24 Virginia educators -- emphasized interactive methods of teaching American history, according to a press release.
O'Hagan and Peery spent three afternoons as costumed historical interpreters after attending workshops on historical clothing and interpretation theory and method. Each received a kit of reproduction artifacts to use in the classroom.
"Everyday I think of something else I can do with some of the material they gave me so there's more than just the knowledge I gained," O'Hagan said.
She worked as a costumed interpreter at the recreated James Fort and taught tourists how to make bread in a clay oven. "We had to actually build the fire in the oven," she said."
She also showed them how to make "case shot" and wooden pegs called "trunnels." Settlers made "case shot" by carving a tree limb and filling it with scrap metal, nails or glass. They'd then tie two of the limbs together and put it in a falcon gun, which looks like a cannon.
"The string would be burned off in the explosion and the shrapnel would go flying," O'Hagan said.
She said wearing the 17th-century clothing and interacting with tourists was the best part of the event.
"In a way, I've had a chance to live these experiences," she said.
Teachers also toured Historic Jamestowne -- the site of America's first permanent English settlement -- and Yorktown National Battlefield.
Participants listened to presentations on Powhatan Indian culture, the origins of Jamestown, slavery, the American Revolution and the seasonal cycle of work on an 18th-century farm.
Two hands-on programs featured 17th-century seamanship and 18th-century military life.
The Jamestown 2007 Commemorative Stamp & Cachet Project Committee and The Ukrop Foundation financially supported the institute. Eighty-three people applied to attend the event.
Learn more about the foundation at historyisfun.org.
To see more of The Free Lance-Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://fredericksburg.com/flshome. Copyright (c) 2008, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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