New Diana ISD 5th graders are reading the novel The Castle in the Attic, along with learning about the Middle Ages (Medieval Times), according to New Diana teacher Amy Johnson.

Learning activities students have experienced and completed in class include:

• Recited the Code of Chivalry

• Learned about the four stages of becoming a knight

• Made tapestries that hang from their classroom ceiling

• Created trebuchets from frozen-treat sticks and a plastic spoon (and had a marshmallow battle)

• Castle contest (created castles, including battlements and a drawbridge)

• Medieval feast day (chicken legs, cheeses, grapes, rolls, and pudding)

• Discussed Medieval feudalism and drew for positions (king, noble, knight or peasant)

• Made biography shields

Guest speakers included Lance and Kathy Homeniuk, both of whom teach high school science at Kilgore High School.

They are also teachers for Medieval Times Camp, held at LeTourneau University each summer.

“My wife, Kathy, and I started leading summer camps about 25 years ago at Lamar University,” Lance said.

“Our daughter was in Medieval Times one year, and the next year the camp leader moved to Hawaii. Kathy was asked to teach it, so she used Kande’s helmet and crafts as a starting point and made up her own lesson plans.

“When we moved to Kilgore and began summer camps at LeTourneau University, Kathy did the camps for the youngest kids. They even had a Feast day. I made mine for the intermediate/middle school kids and did my own spin-off Medieval Times camp (more arms and armor, role play, a castle and drawbridge, catapult, trebuchet, and other things,” Lance said.

“We have taken our family to Scarborough Faire, the Texas Rennaissance Festival, and,of course, Medieval Times, for years,” he said.

Nancy Essary with Communities in Schools (at New Diana) helped organize the day and invited the Homeniuks.