SCVi students and faculty gave Santa Clarita residents a glimpse at life during the American Civil War at the 6th Annual Civil War Living History Day Wednesday.

Hundreds of community members gathered at the Rancho Camulos Museum in Piru on the morning of June 6.

Dozens of 8th grade students performed for them, dressed in Civil War soldier uniforms and 19th century clothing to take attendees back to the mid 1800’s. Among them was Pilot Saraceno, an SCVi student working in the “field hospital.”

“It’s pretty cool,” Saraceno said. “Basically the job of the field hospital was to take all those soldiers who were injured and we would try to stitch them up or amputate arms.”

Sara Brown, Outreach Coordinator with SCVi, said the show was a culmination of the history lessons from throughout the year.

“All 8th grade students in California study the Civil War,” Brown said. “Studying the Civil War at SCVi and iLEAD Schools means project-based learning, where the students themselves are responsible for creating this Living History Day as a way to present their deep understand of this tumultuous time in our nation’s history.”

SCVi staff coordinated with students to conceive and design props and costumes that would reflect the fashion and styles of early America.

“Our students create, design, schedule and produce this event, which promotes community partnerships with Rancho Camulos historical museum as well,” Brown said. “We couldn’t be more proud of their efforts in pulling together, with the guidance of their teaching team, this beautiful culmination of their learning.”

Audiences at the event were treated to ten different performances, where students depicted moments that would have been typical for Americans living during the Civil War years.

Students who participated in the Civil War Living History Day have been preparing for this day by memorizing speeches and rehearsing dances and battle scenes, according to student performers.

Matt Watson, a member of the iLEAD School’s Curriculum team, said the event cemented knowledge in a way that reading out of a book in a classroom could not.

“If our kids are involved in activities that they’re not interested in, that they’re not engaged in, the learning is just going to slip and they’re not going to retain it,” Watson said. “But if they’re working on projects that are engaging, but not rigorous, deep learning, then it’s all for naught anyways. So it’s that constant ebb and flow for our teachers to develop those projects that are highly interesting to our kids, but then are also teaching them those rigorous state standards to prepare them for the future.”

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