Post by title1parent on May 4, 2008 6:47:00 GMT -5
Out of the classroom, into Vietnam
Jungle maze brings war to life for Neuqua history students
May 4, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Neuqua Valley High School sophomore Meredith Smith stepped out of the jungle and into the dressing room, and wiped the sweat from her brow.
"It was so scary," she said.
"If you would have been quiet, you would have made it. You would have survived," American history teacher Tracy Cook said.
ยป Click to enlarge image Senior Tom Lord preps the Vietnam jungle simulation Friday at Neuqua Valley High School by laying down snap firecrackers that are intended to resemble gunfire when stepped on.
Corey R. Minkanic / Special to The Sun
Instead, the laughing and giggling allowed the enemy - in this case, theater students armed with snaps, party poppers and squirt bottles - to locate Smith and her group.
For four years now, Cook has led the transformation of the school's black box theater into a Vietnam maze that simulates for students what is was like to be a soldier trudging through a triple-canopy jungle with a war being waged all around them.
Constructed in roughly 45 minutes, the maze is little more than a dozen or so sheets of particle board covered with fake foliage and toy snakes and such. But, when supplemented with sound effects of gunfire, bomb blasts and a wide variety of jungle sounds, not to mention complete darkness, it does the trick, as only four groups have successfully completed the maze.
Truly, it is the darkness that gets to most of the groups that go through the maze. Students often resort to finding their way through the jungle by using their cell phones as flash lights. When they do, "snipers" douse them with their squirt bottles.
"They think that's dark, but they don't know dark," said Jack Shiffler, a Vietnam War veteran who spoke to the students about his experiences as a Marine. "Over there, all you could go by was whether the guy in front of you or the guy behind you was still there."
Shiffler said the jungles in Vietnam were so dark and dense that soldiers were instructed to simply sit down when they got lost.
"Otherwise, you could go in 27 different wrong directions," he said. "When they realize they lost you, they'll backtrack and find you."
Over the years, experts like Shiffler have vouched for the authenticity of Cook's work.
"I've had actual veterans tell me that if I could raise the heat, raise the humidity, and make it smell like dried fish, I'd be right on," Cook said.
Cook said the maze brings her history lessons to life for her students.
"It takes them out of their comfort zone, and that's what I'm looking for," she said. "It helps them appreciate a lit bit more what the men and women in service did for us."
Jungle maze brings war to life for Neuqua history students
May 4, 2008
By Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
Neuqua Valley High School sophomore Meredith Smith stepped out of the jungle and into the dressing room, and wiped the sweat from her brow.
"It was so scary," she said.
"If you would have been quiet, you would have made it. You would have survived," American history teacher Tracy Cook said.
ยป Click to enlarge image Senior Tom Lord preps the Vietnam jungle simulation Friday at Neuqua Valley High School by laying down snap firecrackers that are intended to resemble gunfire when stepped on.
Corey R. Minkanic / Special to The Sun
Instead, the laughing and giggling allowed the enemy - in this case, theater students armed with snaps, party poppers and squirt bottles - to locate Smith and her group.
For four years now, Cook has led the transformation of the school's black box theater into a Vietnam maze that simulates for students what is was like to be a soldier trudging through a triple-canopy jungle with a war being waged all around them.
Constructed in roughly 45 minutes, the maze is little more than a dozen or so sheets of particle board covered with fake foliage and toy snakes and such. But, when supplemented with sound effects of gunfire, bomb blasts and a wide variety of jungle sounds, not to mention complete darkness, it does the trick, as only four groups have successfully completed the maze.
Truly, it is the darkness that gets to most of the groups that go through the maze. Students often resort to finding their way through the jungle by using their cell phones as flash lights. When they do, "snipers" douse them with their squirt bottles.
"They think that's dark, but they don't know dark," said Jack Shiffler, a Vietnam War veteran who spoke to the students about his experiences as a Marine. "Over there, all you could go by was whether the guy in front of you or the guy behind you was still there."
Shiffler said the jungles in Vietnam were so dark and dense that soldiers were instructed to simply sit down when they got lost.
"Otherwise, you could go in 27 different wrong directions," he said. "When they realize they lost you, they'll backtrack and find you."
Over the years, experts like Shiffler have vouched for the authenticity of Cook's work.
"I've had actual veterans tell me that if I could raise the heat, raise the humidity, and make it smell like dried fish, I'd be right on," Cook said.
Cook said the maze brings her history lessons to life for her students.
"It takes them out of their comfort zone, and that's what I'm looking for," she said. "It helps them appreciate a lit bit more what the men and women in service did for us."