Humanities classes are hosting their Renaissances Faire on Wednesday and Thursday in the library, an end-of-year project where freshmen and sophomores present a “booth” about the economics of their chosen civilization. 

“It’s actually research based that students remember more, people remember more when they do something that’s inquiry-based and hands-on,” teacher Beth Evans said. “Not only did they have to create something; you also learn the best when you teach and whatever they’re doing basically they’re teaching in a creative way – they’re either doing a skit or they’re doing a presentation, and so that really creates those neuropathways to remember what you’re talking about.”

Students were allowed to choose their own topic from a list of over 40 ideas.

“We want students to have interest,” Evans said. “One thing that we like about picking our own topics is that Renaissance Faires are typically all about Europe, but we call it our Renaissances Faire because we want to really talk about how things were happening all over the world during the Early Modern Era, and so we just want students to find something they’re interested in.”

The creative freedom they had is something freshman Riley Wing appreciated. 

“This [project] was the most fun,” Wong said. “I liked decorating the posters and I thought it was cool that we got to pick our topics and develop our ideas. I liked seeing all the different topics in the library and learning about the different things happening all over the world.”

This hands-on project was a break from the usual essays and paragraphs Humanities focuses on, and according to sophomore Laya Mallina, it helped her retain information better.

“I think hands-on projects are generally more demanding, but it’s more engaging because it’s something you actually have to think about – you can’t just search something up and then write it down,” Mallina said. “You have to really understand what you’re doing and what you’re trying to convey.”