Forest Hills — “You know what you have to do,” Central High history teacher Brad Anderson said to the students who stood on the football field, cardboard shields in hand. “Green, win this and you take it all. Gray, you must achieve victory to stay alive.”
Then, with a blow of a whistle, the warriors of the Gray and Green empires began to advance toward each other.
Students from Anderson’s AP World History class were participating in the battle of the Age of Empires, the annual culmination of a three-week study of land-based empires that dominated much of Europe and Asia from about 1450 to 1750.
“We don’t even touch a screen in here for the first few weeks of school,” said Anderson, who developed the Age of Empires activity around 2007. “It’s more important for young people to, one, be outside on one of the nicest times of the year, September, and (two), to be physically active and interacting with all of their classmates.”
Teamwork, Leadership & Cooperation
At the beginning of the year, students receive a large gamebook manual on how to build an empire, Anderson said. They create statues and murals, are trained in ancient battle tactics and build forts in the woods. Students this year traded with one another and took part in a day of games that included spear throwing, archery and foam rubber “sword” fighting, he said.
“The entire process builds on teamwork, leadership and cooperation,” Anderson said, adding he likes to do Age of Empires at the beginning of the year because it focuses on those skills and encourages students to interact with one another.
“You ended up working with people that you typically don’t who are in different clubs, classes or athletics,” said junior Sam Penninga. “I think it not only strengthens the bonds as a class, but also as a school.”
Sam said he had heard about the Age of Empires from other students who had been in Anderson’s class, and he made it a goal that in his junior year he would be part of that class so he could participate.
Anderson admitted another reason he hosts the Age of Empires is to get students excited about history.
“They have to be able to interact,” he said. Throughout the school year, he said, he tries to provide a mix of hands-on activities and traditional classroom to keep students involved.
Back on the Battlefield
On the most recent battlefield, spears and swords were replaced with dodgeballs. Students carried shields to deflect them that were created out of cardboard and painted the color of their empire — gray or green — and bore the symbols of their individual communities.
Ninth-grader Ryan Davis said she had heard about the Age of Empires battle, so when the event was opened to ninth-graders, she took the opportunity to join.
Junior Elijh Oppenhuizen said he learned through the activity what it meant to operate as a team.
“It is a great way to get a classroom to do something they normally wouldn’t do,” Elijah said.
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