05/14/2007

Rochester Students 'Invade' Fort Mackinac to Experience Soldier Life

Mackinac Island, Mich. – With a cry of “All is well,” students from Rochester’s Oak Arbor School will have a chance to immerse themselves in the lives of 19^th-century soldiers during a Military Muster at Fort Mackinac on the evening of May 22. The Military Muster program is offered by Mackinac State Historic Parks (MSHP) from May 9-29 for Michigan’s 4th through 8th graders.

A typical three-hour program begins with students assembling (mustering) in Mackinac Island’s Marquette Park and marching up the hill to Fort Mackinac. Once inside, MSHP historical interpreters will treat students to a living history lesson that includes marching, drilling on the parade ground, and walking a sentry beat. (The “All is well” signal is called out repeatedly during sentry watch.)

Students can also compare another aspect of soldier life at Fort Mackinac with their own when they sit for a lesson in the old fort schoolhouse. The enlisted men studied arithmetic, geography, and handwriting and so will today’s students, working from texts similar to the ones the soldiers used.

“This is hands-on history,” explained MSHP Curator of Education Katie Cederholm. “For many students, this real experience makes an impact they can’t get from reading and listening alone. They have exclusive use of the fort for the evening. They walk the same ground that 19^th-century soldiers walked. That makes it memorable.”

Military Muster is one of two after-hours educational programs offered by MSHP. During the other program, History Nights at Colonial Michilimackinac, students spend the night at MSHP’s 18^th-century fort in Mackinaw City: sleeping on straw tick mattresses and taking part in activities like cooking, dipping candles, marching, drumming, and retrieving water from Lake Michigan.

Mackinac State Historic Parks is a family of living history museums and nature parks in northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac and is an agency within the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Its sites—which are accredited by the American Association of Museums—include Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island State Park, and Historic Downtown on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek, and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City. Visitor information is available at 231-436-4100 or on the web at www.MackinacParks.com.