Hands-on history at BEMS

Bonny Eagle Middle School seventh-grade students in the clan taught by teachers Mark Andreasen, Karen Boucher, Vicki Montgomery and Connie Regula recently studied early Colonial America and the Salem witchcraft hysteria.

The students crafted their own costumes, were given actual court cases (such as theft, gambling, breaking the Sabbath, rebellion against parents and public drunkenness) of the time period and then they wrote scripts for the skits they performed for the other classes.

Students acted as magistrates, witnesses for and against, defendants, court criers, governors and bailiffs. Puritan punishments were handed out to those found guilty, including the pillory, brandings (signs hung around your neck), whippings and thrown objects (paper balls). Public humiliation and pain were always a part of puritan consequences.

As part of their studies, the seventh-grade students and their teachers took a field trip to Salem and explored the Old Burying Point Cemetery, the Witch Museum, and saw “Cry Innocent,” a play put on by Gordon College students about the pretrial of Bridget Bishop, the first person hanged as a witch.

The classes did fund aising for the buses and for all the admission fees for the Witch Museum and “Cry Innocent.”

Sign up for kindergarten

The 2008 kindergarten registration dates in School Administrative District 6 are:

Buxton, Tuesday, April 1, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m., Buxton Town Hall; Hollis, Thursday, April 3, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Hollis Community Building; Standish, Tuesday, April 8, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Edna Libby School; and Limington, Thursday, April 10, 9-11 a.m., H.B. Emery School.

SAD 6 kindergarten screening dates are May 2, Jack Memorial and Steep Falls; May 9, Edna Libby and Eliza Libby; May 16, H.B. Emery and Hollis; Tuesday, June 3 and Tuesday, Aug. 19, Frank Jewett Library.

Parents should take their child’s birth certificate,

immunization records (including proof of chicken pox), child’s Social Security number, and driver’s license or proof of residency.

Oh, so good

The First Congregational Church of Buxton (Tory Hill Meetinghouse) is sponsoring its third annual Chili-Chowder-Pie Festival 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, at the Bar Mills parish house, Route 4A, Bar Mills.

The fee is $5 for those entering a fish or clam chowder, chili or pie in the festival. Those not entering can serve as judges. Admission fee is $4, $2.

For more information, call 929-6052.

(BEMS witch trial) – These Bonny Eagle Middle School girls are dressed for their reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials. They are, from left, Nicole Charette, Sarah Pepin, Nicole Smith, Tasha Richards and Jena Onesti.