Tinsmiths and chandlers and tithingmen, oh my!

While most people would not recognize these as professions, much less know what their jobs entailed, fifth-graders at Hillcrest Intermediate School know better. In fact, students at the school can expound on the lives and work of these three and more, thanks to an activity that reached its culmination last week.

Led by teacher Courtney Williams, the students recreated a colonial village, with each student portraying a different member of the community. Students researched and wrote presentations about the characters they were portraying, and they dressed up in period costume.

For two days, the students brought the projects room at Hillcrest back into the 1700s. The fifth-graders adorned the room with houses and workshops they had built and, dressed in their costumes, they explained the job and life of the various people who made up the village. Parents and other students listened to the presentations and could ask questions about different aspects of the jobs.

Students played the roles of a wide variety of colonial villagers, from Molly Bair's tailor to Camryn Gudowski's print shop owner. Some occupations, such as Nathan Alford's wigmaker, Cory Payne's doctor and the bed and breakfast run by Haley Carnahan, Kate Meyers and Alex Patter still exist today.

Others, however, were a bit more esoteric. A chandler, explained Brannon Sever, made the town's supply of candles and soap, which Sever illustrated in her presentations.

"I actually did make some candles and soap," she said.

As tinsmiths, Natalie Boczar and Kaylynn Thornton also had the chance to demonstrate an actual technique used in the colonial period. The two made tin punchings, in which a series of dots punched in a sheet of tin creates a picture.

And the tithingman?

"It was like a policeman back then," said student Sam Bartuska, who played the role. Tithingmen enforced the religious dictates of the time, he said.

The tithingman collected mandatory contributions to the church and punished people guilty of moral offenses, such as sleeping in church.

Religion, and obedience thereto, dominated colonial life, said students.

"On Sundays, if you didn't worship that day you would go to jail," student Josey Murray said.

Other infractions incurred similarly severe punishments, said Bartuska.

"They learned how strict the laws were in colonial times," he said.

Students also learned about the more mundane aspects of colonial life. "We learned mostly about what kind of tools they used," Natalie said.

"We learned that the colonial village had to work together to get products," student Kara Dally said.

Students emphasized the interconnected nature of colonial life in their presentations. Students tried to explain how their jobs affected the work and lives of other people in the village and how they had to trade amongst themselves to get the products they needed.

The project brought the history the students had learned to life and left them with an understanding they wouldn't have had otherwise. And, they got to do some things that most fifth-graders never do.

"We learned how to use a butter churn," Alex said.