Slideshow: Shore Middle School Students Get Medieval

Seventh-graders at  built suits of armor from aluminum foil, practiced their jousting, learned about falconry and sculpted gargoyles as part of Medieval Day Friday.

Teacher Peter Dawson said the seventh-grade teachers arranged Medieval Day partly out of necessity. Field trips have become so expensive that they wanted to design a fun, alternative way to learn while still at school, he said.

The students have been learning about the medieval age for the last three weeks. They applied their learning to the day's activities, which included designing a coat of arms and firing catapults.

While teachers put a lot of work into planning the event, Dawson said Medieval Day never could have happened without the district's parents. More than 30 parents volunteered at the school Friday and another 150 made desserts for the day.