Students Feast Medieval Style

Friday, May 30, marked an eventful day for the seventh grade students of Loma Linda Academy, a local K-12 private school. It was Medieval Day, a chance for the students to learn about the Medieval Era and even experience a feast, with kid-friendly entertainment, skits, and music. Beginning at 8 a.m., the seventh graders and teachers wore costumes ordered from a specialty shop. Classes were conducted as normal, the children rotating every fifty minutes, but with a special focus being on the Medieval Era. Science teacher Dr. Randy Penington changed his lesson to focus on Alchemy; “we teach them about the black plague and health care in medieval times,” Penington shared. Dana Miller, a World History teacher, shares that she taught subjects including “the making of books in medieval times.” The school also brought in a guest musician named Scott Williams to teach the kids about how music was performed, demonstrating on instruments. Williams, who has performed at Downtown Disney, Disneyland, Scottish Fairs, and Street Fairs, even took song requests and performed songs such as the Star Wars theme, Harry Potter, and Hotel California. He was also to manage the music at the Feast. The Feast itself required preparation beforehand and was organized by parent helper Pam Shultz. “We try to keep it as authentic as possible, including the food,” Shultz said in regards to the experience the school wants to provide to its students. Tables were laden with baskets containing bread, cubes of cheese, grapes, and fruit. Cups were filled with grape juice as imitation wine, and electric candles so the kids could eat by candlelight. The main course was to be Lentil Soup and sherbet would be served as dessert. When the feast began, some of the kids acted out the roles of serving girls, others acted as juggling performers, while four had been selected to act as the Lord, Lady, and family. Before the feast, two more acted as taste testers for poison. Then the food is served to all. After a time, a minor skit was performed in which the Lord holds court to judge men for crimes. Dessert concludes the feast.