Darnestown 5th Graders Turn Clock Back To Colonial Days

A trip to 's gymnasium Friday won't result in finding a friendly game of basketball or tag, but rather a bustling, 18th Century New England town.

The school’s 14^th annual Colonial Day celebration — a daylong event for 5^th graders based on nearly eight months of curriculum work — transforms the gym into a colonial village, complete with building structures, props, costumes and decorations to properly depict life at that time.

The 5^th grade students study American history throughout the school year and have grown to look forward to the celebration from the start of their time at Darnestown Elementary, parent volunteer Kelli Kahalas said. 

“Fifth-grade students look forward to this for years because it’s their big, culminating event,” Kahalas said. “It’s like a big, in-school field trip.” 

The “town” will feature a traditional colonial home, schoolhouse, dentist, wig shop and apothecary along with quilting, shipbuilding and spinning demonstrations, 5^th grade teacher and Colonial Day Director Debbie Waechter said, bringing a complete colonial experience to the students without leaving school.

At each station, a script awaits students to teach them about their new activity, providing a very hands-on experience, Waechter said. 

“We’re trying to simulate some of the things that are done [in places like Colonial Williamsburg] and try to make it as authentic as we can,” Waechter said.

In the afternoon and evening, students perform three, 15-minute vignettes in which they will re-create the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Surrender at Yorktown, Waechter said. 

Joining the students on Friday will be more than 50 parent volunteers, who, according to Waechter, make the entire day possible.

The volunteers take part in all Colonial Day preparations and activities, ranging from putting together the gym — which takes place over two days — and props to actively participating as members of the community. 

One former Darnestown Elementary parent (her kids now in their 20s) comes back every year to lead the spinning demonstration, Kahalas said. Another allows everything to be built in his garage. 

Others allow the school to borrow furniture and artifacts for the day or cook food associated with the times for lunch. Typical menu items include Red Flannel Hash, blueberry slomp, beef jerky and fish sticks.

“It’s truly quite an effort on the part of the parents,” Darnestown Elementary Principal Laura Colgary said. 

The idea for an extravagant Colonial Day celebration was first raised in 1999 and was directed by former 5^th grade teacher Luanne Deppa for many years. 

To pay homage to Deppa, the school named its traditional, single-family colonial home, “Deppa House”. The house is part of the display and students will be able to go inside and learn about family life during colonial times.

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Editor's Note: The photos and video accompanying this story are from Darnestown Elementary's 2011 Colonial Day celebration.