CHESAPEAKE - What do Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots and Joan of Arc all have in common?

They were all at last week's Renaissance Fair at Chesapeake Middle School.

Students in Terry Morris' seventh and eighth grade Talented And Gifted Class hosted the Renaissance Fair, which transported fellow students back in time to get a glimpse of life during the Renaissance, learn a little bit and have fun in the process.

&#8220We went to the Renaissance festival in Harveysburg, Ohio,” Morris said. &#8220We wanted to share what we learned with the entire school.”

This is the TAG program's fourth year hosting the festival and they always try to do something the students will recognize, Morris said.

Each of the students had to pick something or someone to represent from the Renaissance period, research their topic, prepare a presentation and educate their fellow students.

The day of the festival, students went from class to class, learning about different aspects of life during the Renaissance. Students learned about dances and games, pirates, heard a soliloquy from Shakespeare and learned to make paper.

&#8220It was really fun,” said Erin Hall, who did her presentation on paper making and guilds. &#8220We had to research, it took a long time.”

Hall gave her presentation and gave one student out of the class the opportunity to come to the front and make a piece of paper just like they did in Renaissance times. She said she was nervous as she stood in front of her peers in a period gown, but doing the presentation for the classes was &#8220so much fun.”

In other classes, students learned about knights, heard presentations on religion and torture, listened to the life stories of

amazing women in history such as Joan of Arc, Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth and had the opportunity of playing human checkers.

&#8220This is what they did, but they killed people for real,” Tony Brumfield said of his human checkerboard project.

The massive checkerboard was spread across an entire classroom - with the playing pieces being Brumfield's fellow classmates, of course.

Students moved from square to square, as they were told, and while those playing strategized their next move. When it was time to crown a king, Brumfield was prepared with

a Burger King crown.

Students laughed and teased one another as they negotiated around the playing board.

&#8220It works out well, but it gets pretty noisy,” Brumfield said as he smiled looking over his life-sized checkerboard.

At the end of the festival, students were taken to the gym where they were witness to a joust in front of Queen Elizabeth's castle.

The castle, where Queen Elizabeth - eighth grader Casey Kirk - taught students about the queen and the castle's functions, was constructed by the TAG students and Morris.

The castle was made of foam and duct tape and then painted with scenes depicting castle life during the period. The building even had a working drawbridge for students to cross as they entered. Morris said they erected the castle like a barn raising.

The presentations, props and period costumes all created a vivid history lesson for the students who attended the festival - and a chance for the TAG students to demonstrate what they learned and teach others at the same time.