Northport Students Reenact American Revolution

Seventh-grade students in the Northport-East Northport School District received the unique opportunity to travel back in time to the American Revolutionary War on Nov. 2 with the help of the reenactment group Boots and Saddles.

In an effort to expand the curriculum of the American Revolution, students from both East Northport Middle School and Northport Middle School participated in a Revolutionary War experience where reenactors dressed in time period-themed attire and facilitated stations to teach students about various elements of the war.

Students gathered outside on the field of Northport Middle School and spent about 20 minutes at each of the five stations. They learned a variety of important facts about the significant time period. This included the weapons used at the time, including muskets, pistols, rifles and cannons. They also learned about household items that families used and heard from the “British king” and a “loyalist.”

After visiting the stations, the seventh-grade class witnessed a mock battle between the colonists and the British. Boots and Saddles brought a horse to show students what the soldiers used in warfare and gave the class a show, riding the horse while chopping heads of lettuce with a sword. The students cheered as the reenactment took place.

Principal Timothy Hoss found the program to be beneficial because it brought history alive for the students.
“It is really meaningful to the students when they are spoken to in the historic present,” he said. “All of the accompanying resources that they have such as the cannons, muskets, rifles and the attire; it’s all really designed to reinforce a rich learning experience. I don’t think the students will ever forget it.”

Story by Syntax, Photos courtesy of the Northport-East Northport School District:

1) Seventh-grade students at Northport Middle School learned how to clean a cannon.
2) Seventh-grade students Braden Greenburg (left) and Braden Ciszek (right) flashed a smile with the king’s helmet at one of the stations.
3) Northport-East Northport students posed with the “British King” after hearing him speak about the war.
4) Students witnessed a mock battle between the British and the colonists.
5) Northport-East Northport students with the reenactors after the mock battle took place outside of the building.
6) Principal Timothy Hoss gathered with the organization Boots and Saddles on Nov. 2 and thanked them for taking the time to speak with students.