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Robinwood Lane goes South during history presentation
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Neighbors | Christine Keeling.Civil War re-enactor Ed Beers tells the life history of General Robert E. Lee to fourth-grade students at Robinwood Lane Elementary School. The presentation was part of the school's Civil War Day May 20.
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Neighbors | Christine Keeling .Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Ron Johnson (left), Kim Adams and Veronica Carnegie spoke to fourth-grade students of Robinwood Lane Elementary School on Civil War Day May 20.
By CHRISTINE KEELING
Chairs and a classroom were traded for grass and shade as students learned about Civil War history.
More than 70 Robinwood Lane Elementary School fourth-grade students gathered on the front lawn of the school May 20 for a Civil War Day presentation given by members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
For one Robinwood student, dressed in a confederate outfit, it was a glimpse into his future dreams.
“When I graduate school I want to go into the Marines and then become a Civil War re-enactor,” said fourth-grader Brandon Russo with a smile.
Russo is a history buff. He has read every history book in the library and anxiously anticipated this day since he found out about it.
“He has been so excited,” said Jan Zorman, Russo’s teacher. “I never met a fourth-grader with such vast knowledge of the Civil War.”
Russo and his fellow classmates listened to General Robert E. Lee’s life story from Ed Beers of Pennsylvania. Beers has personified Lee for five years and believes elementary students make a good audience.
“This prepares them and gives them a positive attitude,” Beers said.
Boardman resident Veronica Carnegie, dressed as Miss Emily, fanned herself in true Southern style from behind tables that displayed period items for the children to handle. She said she became involved in Civil War reenactments because she wanted to know how people in the era lived and enjoys sharing her experiences,
“We’re living historians,” Austintown Middle School history teacher and Commander of the Sons of Confederate Veteran Ron Johnson, said. “We teach southern history.”
Johnson was dressed as General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
He saidthe group visits six or seven schools in May because most schools focus on the Civil War as part of the curriculum at that time.
This is the first year Robinwood Lane Elementary has hosted Civil War Day.