Over 270 fourth- and seventh-grade students from Heuvelton and Ogdensburg will discover what life was like during the mid-1700s and the French and Indian War May 18 at the city’s Lighthouse Point.

Students will take a step back in time during Living History Day, as they experience a day in the life of a sailor, look through a soldier’s pack, see textiles, clothing, colonial lighting, learn about fur trading and watch demonstrators fire artillery.

“We are trying to educate our youth about the fort and all that happened there, and help provide support to the curriculum in schools,” said Fort La Presentation Association President Barbara J. O’Keefe.

Last year, the Fort Association was presented with a $10,000 grant from AT&T. Part of that money will go toward new teaching tools for schools called “hands-on traveling kits,” which will be presented for the first time at the event. Mrs. O’Keefe said the kits include reproductions of 18 century boys’ and girls’ clothing, ink wells and pens, and cutlery, games, cooking utensils, a lantern, pistol and mortars.

“These reproductions are what they will be hearing about in the classroom and they can actually try a quill and pen writing, and get excited about learning history,” she said.

After the presentation, the kits will be available for loan to area schools from the St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

Living History day is sponsored by the Heuvelton Teacher’s Association, Ogdensburg Educational Association, BOCES, Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Fort La Presentation Association.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer