Brownsville students travel back in time
It was sometimes difficult to spot the Brownsville Area High School students at Jamestown Settlement in Virginia this year, even though more than 20 of them were on site. The students were firmly embedded with re-enactors representing military units from the 1300s through the present day.
For the second year, Brownsville Area students volunteered at Military Through the Ages (MTA), a special event sponsored by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation involving people re-enacting 700 years of history. Brownsville Middle School history teacher Carl Garofalo and six adult volunteers accompanied the students.
Once they had finished handing out wood, straw and water and emptying garbage bags, the students were embedded with the re-enactment units, learning about the time period and sharing that knowledge with the public.
“It’s the only way they’re going to learn. The best way I know to teach history is hands-on,” said James Wall, re-enactor with the 1781 Surgical Detachment, Royal Navy-Yorktown. “I usually carry a handful of coins with me, originals, so they can actually touch history.”
Jordan Wilson, a Brownsville junior, learned a bit about 18th century amputation and bullet extraction techniques while embedded with the naval unit.
Roger’s Rangers (1756-63) were set up across the walkway from the Royal Navy unit, with several of the Brownsville students attached to the unit.
“They’re so interested in what we’re doing. So many people think that kids just want to lie around and watch television, and that’s not true. These are young adults, and we have them doing what young adults would be doing. They’re helping to cook. A little while ago, they were throwing tomahawks. They’ll be learning our drill with wooden muskets. They’ll know it as well as the rest of us,” said Bill Blair of the Roger’s Rangers group in Virginia.
Travis Neal, a Brownsville senior, spent his time at MTA with the Irish Guards (1900-present) dressed in the unit’s World War I uniform. Neal learned that the Irish Guards are the famous stone-faced soldiers in front of Buckingham Palace. In addition to learning the unit’s history and equipment, Neal practiced his own stoic guard pose.
“If we were in Brownsville right now, we’d all be sitting around relaxing, but we’d hate it. Down here, we’re working hard, but we love it and don’t want to leave,” Neal said. “I really like the involvement level. I want to try to do more down here, dressing in the 17th century period.”
Some of the students plan to continue working with the re-enactors.
“I became a U.S. Marine from World War II. I learned a lot. I plan to stay with them,” said Nick Jellots of Brownsville.
Since returning from Virginia, both Jellots and Neal have begun gathering the clothing and equipment they will need to join their adoptive re-enacting units in the future.
“This is our first time working with a volunteer, and we’ve certainly got a good one. He’s got the right attitude,” said David Hughes of the Irish Guards.
The attitude of the students attracted the attention of the staff at Jamestown, as well as re-enactors. When the students reported for work on a Sunday morning, their third day of volunteering, the re-enactors greeted them with a spontaneous standing ovation.
“When they come, there’s nothing I don’t ask them to do, whether it’s unloading cars or loading up ice chests,” said Elaine Cannon, the foundation’s volunteer services coordinator. “It’s a great resource for us because it allows us to have our regular youth volunteers to remain in their regular positions on site.”
Cannon said Virginia government officials calculate the value of volunteer hours at $17.79 an hour. At that rate, the 28 adult and student volunteers from Brownsville provided nearly $16,000 worth of labor during their 32 hours of service during MTA. Still, to talk to the students, they are the ones who came away with an experience they could never put a price tag on.
“Elaine (Cannon) is wonderful to us every time we’re down here. She really makes sure we have everything we need,” said Tara Sharpe, a sophomore from Redstone Township.
Sharpe was assigned to the Salvation Army Lassies from World War I, handing out doughnuts cooked on a wood stove and learning about the medical and social duties of the Salvation Army volunteers. She bore an uncanny resemblance to a young girl in a photo from World War I in the Salvation Army display.
The Salvation Army Lassies were chosen for the Exhibitors Choice and also took first place in the cooking competition. Re-enactor Joy DeMatteis said that with a few more volunteers like Sharpe, the unit will sweep all of the awards next year.
“They’re great kids and they work so hard. They really helped us setting up,” DeMatteis said of the Brownsville teens.
The camp judges commended Roger’s Rangers and the Salvation Army Lassies for their use of the student volunteers.
Nearly all of the student volunteers had visited Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg as junior high students with Garofalo. Garofalo said that because of the experiences of the high school students with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, future junior high students from Brownsville will spend an entire day at Jamestown and another full day at Yorktown on their field trips to historic sites in Virginia.
“It just feels like a second home,” said Diane Williams, a senior from Redstone Township.
“When you come down in seventh and eighth grade, it’s a learning experience. When we come down now, it’s a life experience,” said Jake Davis, a Brownsville junior.