
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994                    TAG: 9406170240 
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER                     PAGE: 24    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: SPECIAL TO THE CLIPPER 
DATELINE: 940619                                 LENGTH: Medium

FAIR GIVES STUDENTS GOOD LOOK AT COLONIAL LIFE

{LEAD} The students at Southeastern Elementary School have a better idea of what life was like during Virginia's Colonial period after a recent Colonial fair at the school.

The fair - organized by fourth-grade teachers Scot Beach, Janis Adams, Vicki Bradner and Karen Harris - featured 105 costumed and eager fourth-graders.

{REST} Its purpose was to present Colonial history, culture, politics, commerce, art and geography in a creative and dynamic way for the students, to make the Colonial area come alive.

The fair began with an opening ribbon cutting and musical ceremony presided over by school principal Woody Koonce. Then town criers rang bells and escorted visiting preschool through fifth-grade classes into the fair.

Visitors, which included Chesapeake public schools superintendent C. Fred Bateman and supervisor of social studies G. Charlene ``Sissy'' Chappell, were treated to an array of exhibitions, projects and presentations.

The fair included variations on the Jamestown Fort, exhibits on plantations and ship replicas, geographical and historic research reports, posters on American craftsmen, audio-taped portraits of famous Virginians, three-dimensional book reports, wall hanging samplers of cross stitching and quill pen and ink, ceramic native American artifacts and jewelry, and creative writing.

Fairgoers were invited to buy such Colonial food items as apple juice, popcorn balls, gingerbread cookies, snicker doodle cookies and penny candies.

The fair also featured games such as bowling, archery, cards, quoits, hopscotch and several Native American diversions.

Participants had photographs of themselves taken in a Colonial pillory, and a handmade quilt, created by one of the school's fourth-grade classes, was raffled off.

Proceeds from the fair's food sales and game admissions will be used to support the school's art department and social studies projects, including next year's second annual Virginia State Fair at Southeastern Elementary School.

by CNB