By Alfonso Aguilar
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 11/27/03)

Sophomores at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria traveled back in time last week to experience life as it was 500 years ago, during the European Renaissance.

Free of bulky luggage, and without passports, they traveled to countries like England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy with just their imagination and creativity.

Some students journeyed to many places. They were Romanian gypsies, like Alice Thompson, whose black and white dress and red bandana around her head was made by her mother.

"I think it would be fine to be a real gypsy, maybe in Siberia," said Thompson, showing a computerized map of routes traveled by gypsies centuries ago.

Each year Ireton’s sophomores participate in the Renaissance Faire as a way to further learn about the cultures and societies that ended the Middle Ages.

Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Galileo Galilei, Martin Luther, Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII, Isabella of Castile and Thomas More are some of the names of that era that earned the attention of Ireton students.

In three different sections, participants, most of them dressed according to the era, theme or character they represented, created booths to share aspects of Renaissance life —including personalities, art, costumes and instruments.

They explained their topics or described the lives of their chosen personalities with pictures, drawings, statistics, charts, samples of textiles, and some home-made instruments for use in navigation or biology.

"These kids are very creative and have a lot of imagination," said English teacher Kerry Curran after listening to Anthony Murray, who posed as Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. Dressed like Leeuwenhoek, a scientist from Holland who was born in 1632, Murray explained that he was "the founder

of the science of microbiology and the science of microscopy."

Some students, like Brittany Schott, chose a theme instead of a character. "I wanted to do something different," said Schott, who was dressed in black and painted her face in white with some red lines symbolizing blood.

"No, no, it is not Halloween," she said laughing. "What I am doing is representing the dead in that era. It was very different according to whether you belonged to upper or lower class."

For poor people, death was associated with Bubonic plague or syphilis, explained Schott. For rich people death was related to age, treason or poisoning.

In average, students spent three months preparing for the Renaissance Faire.

"It is pretty cool. It is a good experience to know how life was in those centuries and very interesting to learn more about many countries," said Willis Zalaner, who was a French mobilman.

"The period of Henry VIII (1491—1547) was very interesting, and my favor one his many wifes was Catherine of Aragon, because she was very bright," said Kerry Biechman. "But I prefer the modernity of today. I am happy in the era."

Leslie Blincoe was among the mothers proud to see the students’ work. "This faire is as good as the Renaissance festivals organized by professional organizations in the area," said Blincoe.