Search the site:  
National News Video
Top Jobs
Science and Technology
Headlines   |   mouseover panels to open
Silver Bluff students touch the brighter side of the Roaring '20s
3/22/2008 12:17 AM   0 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend

By ROB NOVIT
Senior writer
As the Silver Bluff High School students cheerfully acknowledged, they were enjoying the fun side of the Roaring '20s Thursday.
Students of U.S. history teacher Lisa Evans and American literature teacher Meredith Pickering dressed in period costumes or something close - the flapper dresses and hats and the fancy suits of the era.
The punch substituted for all the bootleg liquor that flowed during much of that decade. Susan Few's culinary arts students prepared a light lunch generally appropriate for the era - beanie-weenies, chicken salad and deviled eggs.
Anthony Jackson might have walked off with the men's best-dressed award if there had been one, featuring a coat that nearly reached his ankles.
"I was looking in my dad's closet for a suit," Jackson said. "Then I found this long coat. I didn't know it was in there."
Pickering's students have read "The Great Gatsby," while Evans' class has completed a unit on the 1920s.
"It's important for the kids to learn about the cultural aspects," said Evans. "It was fun and wild, but there was a darker side, too. The Klan had four million members. There was such a fear of Communism that legal immigrants were deported. People were spending more than they should have."
It's unsettling to know, said Jackson, what life was like for African-Americans at that time. But he appreciates the gains that have been made since then.
Just before the decade began, women had won a hard-fought battle to get the right to vote. Allison Kennamer was surprised how much "the men didn't trust women."
The '20s ended with a crash - of the stock market in 1929, sending the nation into a devastating depression. The history students examined the financial parallels to the 21st century.
"It makes me nervous every time we talk about the '20s," Evans said.
It's troubling to Kennamer, too.
"Everybody talks about the recession and it's kind of scary," she said. "It feels like we might get into that and there's Social Security, too."
Principal Todd Bornscheuer was delighted to see the teachers in the different disciplines -- in English, social studies and culinary arts -- work together on the project.
"This is making it real," he said. "Almost 100 years later, it seems to be happening all over again. By studying those times, the kids have a far better understanding of the times today."
Student Katrina Floyd said she and other girls tried to learn the Charleston. If they didn't succeed, they certainly came close Thursday.
"I love this," Floyd said. "I like the outfits and I like to dance."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.



Share this story:

                           


  0 comment(s) on this story
Comment on this story
Comment Title:
Enter your comment here:  
Your Name:
captcha 333cc75b2a164fbf9409704a0e954d3b
Enter text seen above:
 
Special Sections View all special sections
Medical Minute brought to you by ARMC
Weddings
Just for Fun
Entertainment
Brides
Abbott - Majzlik
Ellen Marie Majzlik of Aiken and Steven Zane Abbott of Greer were married May 10, 2008, in Campobello at Spiegel Farms. The bride was given in marriage by her father, Edward Majzlik Jr. The Rev. Brad ...
5/10/2008 10:28 PM
Bookings
Obituaries
Births
Science and Technology
copyright 2008 Aiken Standard, All Rights Reserved.