Fairview Senior Class Bring Narnia Back

On April 24, the senior class of Fairview High School, led by Abby Berry and Grace McPherson, recreated the story of Narnia for Mrs. Taylor's third-grade class. The Narnia story had not been acted out since these seniors were in the third grade as well, and they wanted to bring that experience back before they graduated.

Mrs. Hopes, Fairview's family and consumer science teacher, originally started the production and has recreated the Narnia story in several schools before teaching in Fairview. She chose Narnia for its depth and how it can be easily deconstructed for different grade levels and recreated. The magic of the classic Chronicles of Narnia story translates well for younger children, and the seniors and staff did a beautiful job creating the sets and costumes for different portions of the story.

The moving parts of the full-day production included a banquet, a treasure hunt, story stations in the gym, crystal creating, shield decorating, and even a battle! Yellowstone Station, Cartwright, ND, donated chicken drumsticks for the meal, and parts of the project pulled learned elements from different classes. The seniors are part of Mrs. Hopes' public speaking class so the acting out of scenes replicated those lessons. Crystal creation is learned in Freshman science lab, and the ice cream they helped create with the third grade involved physics.

The gym held several scenes from the book series; including the banquet table, the lamppost, the wardrobe and entrance to Narnia, Mr. Tumnus's home, the Beaver's hut, and the White Witches castle .

Several parents both helped and attended, but Tanya Skov had the distinction of having both a senior and third grader involved. Ashton was part of the first class to witness Narnia, and Ella is a third grader enjoying her brother's version of the production.

When asked what their favorite part of the day was, every third grader enthusiastically said some version of "Best day ever!" or "Everything!". The seniors loved seeing their reactions and bringing some of the magic they experienced back to another third grade class.