On a recent foggy morning, in a forest clearing near Mount Madonna School (MMS), 35 high school students dressed in military-style fatigues, or even shorts, t-shirts and jeans, huddle in two opposing, waist-deep, muddy trenches. Nearby, other students peer watchfully from behind boulders and trees, scanning the surrounding terrain. Students can be overheard discussing in low voices, attack and defensive strategies, all the while listening for the signal to commence ‘battle’.
These students are participating in a World War I trench warfare simulation, designed to expose students, albeit in a scaled-down and controlled environment, to physical conditions loosely mimicking WWI trench conditions, and to have them perform tasks and employ strategies used during this war, explains Matt Meachen, MMS high school history and government studies teacher.
“While we are not fully recreating a battlefield or the gore that goes with it,” he says, “the participants will leave tired, muddy and even a bit sore! I want students to begin to understand how difficult it is to wage that kind of war.”
During a pre-battle briefing, Meachen reminds the students that WWI was fought mostly by soldiers in trenches and that the resulting loss of life was tremendous. In fact, some 250,000 U.S. military perished during this war, with an additional 410,000 wounded. Total casualties for all countries involved in WWI are estimated at 10 million military deaths with an additional 20 million people wounded. Many died of the flu due to the disease environment present in trench conditions.
“While many hoped that WWI would be ‘the war to end all wars,’” Meachen tells the students, “in actuality, the concluding peace treaty set the stage for World War II.” Before heading out to the ‘battleground,’ Meachen goes over the rules of engagement. Each round is to last 20-30 minutes and points will be earned for various actions.
Days earlier, to prepare for this hands-on history lesson, Kevin Campbell, a teaching intern currently working on his Master’s and California Teaching Credential, uses a backhoe to dig the trenches, and arrange additional ‘physical obstacles’: dozens of bricks, large boulders, sizable tree branches and large mounds of soil, around the primary staging area. Before the action starts today, he uses a fire truck to add water to the trenches.
“There is great value in experiential learning,” notes Campbell. “The students can better synthesize content when it’s coupled with actual experiences and sensory learning. It’s an effective teaching tool, creating linkages between traditional classroom-based learning and active, kinesthetic learning. It is also multi-modal in its approach, allowing students with various learning modalities – kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, visual/spatial, or linguistic – to have opportunities to engage with the activity and learn through doing,”
The sophomores arrive at the site first, and begin stacking additional branches and reinforcing their trench defenses. The junior class soon begins a similar effort. Bravado is strong at this point; these students all know each other, and there are a lot of playful ‘warnings’ shouted at each other. Both sides strap on flags used more traditionally for flag football, that opposing team members will try to capture during the ‘battle’ to earn points and simulate bayonet wounds.
In the ‘no man’s land’ of the battle area, it’s clear that the physical obstacles make advances against ‘the enemy’ more difficult. The terrain is hilly and very muddy, and maintaining the structural integrity of the trenches is challenging. For participants, avoiding water balloon ‘grenades’ is another concern; and having one’s flag pulled is the equivalent of being bayoneted, an inconvenience that must be tended to by each team’s medic, before the ‘injured’ solider is allowed to resume participation. Both sides have a chain of command, including a designated field general, intelligence officer and medic – and to succeed, these individuals must remain organized.
On this day, MMS’ eleventh grade represents the American forces for the Allies, and the tenth grade represents the German forces of the Axis. Each team fires themselves up with song and chant, knowing that camaraderie will play a key role.
“Warfare in this time period was very distinct,” Meachen tells the students. “In the trenches, soldiers employed old fashioned, rudimentary strategies with modern weaponry. It didn’t really work well. Soldiers were frequently knee deep in muck, and serious conditions like ‘Trench Foot’ were commonplace.”
As soon as the battle begins, students seem shocked at the restraint that immediately makes itself evident.
“Why is no one doing anything?” one student shouts from a trench.
“Because I don’t want to die!” yells a student on the other team. No one appears to want to make the first move, and instead, initially, both sides hole up in their trenches. Not until they feel threatened do they jump into the fray. And so goes war.
Over the next several hours (with a ‘cease fire’ observed for lunch), students battle for four timed rounds. Periodically, other middle/high classes accompanied by teachers stop by to observe the action from positions outside of the direct line of fire.
“It seems apparent, that as much fun as they were having, many of the students could see how difficult – even insensible – this type of warfare can be,” remarks Meachen later. “The dynamics of the contest required teamwork, strategizing, resource management, physical labor, modest physical discomfort, including mud, rain, and some scrapes and bruises, and the willingness and ability to follow both their commanders and the rules of engagement – in a word, discipline.
“Many of the kids also needed to compete and be physical. Doing so gave them a very mild glimpse into how complicated and difficult even a small-scale battle can be. They needed to learn that being tough and macho is only a fraction of what is required to win a war. Some of our ‘toughest’ soldiers ‘died’ each round due to their brazen attempts at glory, rendering themselves useless for the remainder of the contest.”
During the action, every single participant finds a way to contribute to their team. Some, who initially appear intimidated by the activity, find a niche where they can engage. “In some cases students went from feeling marginally important to being an integral part of their team’s success,” notes Meachen. .jpg)
After the last water balloon is lobbed, and all of the squirt guns empty, the whole group pitches in to clean up the area and remove the battle debris..Students then head back up to their classrooms to grab the towels and changes of clothes brought from home – and got to their next class.
“Fighting in the trenches was a lot harder that I expected,” comments one tenth grader boy, as he wipes splattered mud from his face and neck.
“I cannot imagine how soldiers endured this for days or weeks on end,” add junior Daniel Clifton, a participant who really anticipated the battle simulation. “In those terrible conditions: freezing cold, not enough food, injuries and surrounded by death, that they could persevere and still fight on.”
Students will have another opportunity to contemplate the sacrifices of those who’ve served their country: Meachen requires each student to go out and interact with a veteran in acknowledgement of Veteran’s Day, and then report back on that interaction in class.
“This activity helped to generate a true respect for the grisly nature of trench warfare,” Campbell adds in a post-battle reflection. “It provides students with a new perspective on the nature of warfare and the sacrifices of soldiers, which can only aide them in making more nuanced and critical choices as they become voting-aged adults.”
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Photos by Maureen Pramanik
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Nestled among the redwoods on 355 mountaintop acres, Mount Madonna is a safe and nurturing college-preparatory school that supports students in becoming caring, self-aware and articulate critical thinkers, who are prepared to meet challenges with perseverance, creativity and integrity. The CAIS and WASC accredited program emphasizes academic excellence, creative self-expression and positive character development. Located on Summit Road between Gilroy and Watsonville.
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