Reenactors showcase skills with a musket and pike to a group of Frink Middle School Students. Photo by Catherine Hardee / Neuse News

Nearly 200 Lenoir County eighth graders traveled back in time Monday morning. 

Thanks to a group of volunteer and staff reenactors from Tryon Palace in New Bern, the students from E. B. Frink Middle School got the chance to experience life in a Revolutionary War camp. 

Frink Social Studies teacher Chadwick Stokes, who arranged the visit, also participates as a volunteer in the 1st NC Regiment of the NC Line. The regiment participates in events at Tryon Palace and off site, including reenactments at the Moore’s Creek battlefield. 

Stokes said his students are currently studying the American colonies in the period leading up to the American Revolution, and the event would help students to better understand that era. 

“In teaching, you want to do anything you can to increase students’ engagement and interest, so you have to think outside the box with events like this,” Stokes said. 

The reenactors set up three different stations to display aspects of colonial life. At the first station, students learned about what colonial militia would have eaten while on a campaign, and got a chance to try a sample of a soldier’s rations.

At another station, Tryon Palace’s head costumer Leslie Lambercht provided students with an array of authentic colonial-era clothing that they were able to try on.

Finally, students got a lesson in 18th-century military drill and tactics, including demonstrations of the use of a musket and bayonet. 

Lynn Norris, Director of Education at Tryon Palace, said her team enjoys getting the chance to interact with students at their schools, and bringing history to life.

“It is so important to keep this era, the beginning of our country, fresh for a new generation of students. Reenactments allow students to relate to people who lived in that era and understand how the country began,” Norris said.