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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Wallkill Library offers Historical Gaming Club
By LAURA FITZGERALD
[email protected]
The Historical Miniature War Gaming
club will make its debut this month at the
Wallkill Public Library, offering hands-on
learning for local middle and high school
students.
Students will recreate historical
battles using miniature figures and large
game boards. Club members will create
their own figures, dice and props using
the library’s 3D printer and paint them
according to that time period’s fashion.
The $500 Historical Miniature
Gaming Society grant will cover the
cost of supplies for the tiny figures that
opponents use to battle each other.
Wallkill Public Library Outreach
Coordinator Carolyn Thorenz said
students study a specific battle and
time in history during their club time.
They also learn about food, clothing and
music during the period, providing an
immersive learning experience.
Then, students will battle against
other libraries in table-top games that
last for three hours or more.
“It’s very fun, it’s engaging. We’ve
had groups of people that have come to
play and some of these games take at
least three hours to do and they love it,”
Thorenz said.
Thorenz said the club will provide a
immersive dive into history, providing
engaging learning so students can delve
into a topic that interests them. Students
also have a chance to recreate history and
change the outcomes of historic battles.
“History is history but as you’re
playing you can change history,” Thorenz.
The club provides a multi-faceted
learning experience as well, combining
history, art, strategy and technology as
students learn to 3-D print. It also provides
a creative outlet for and an inexpensive
way to explore a new hobby, Thorenz said.
“Libraries are the perfect place to for
people to try new things.” Thorenz said.
“So, you don’t always have to have a huge
commitment, you can go to the library
and try a new hobby.”
Thorenz visited the John G Borden
Middle School in Wallkill to present the
new opportunity to students.
John G Borden Middle School history
teacher, local author and Gardiner town
historian Adam Schnekman said students
are more engaged when they participate
in hands-on, interactive learning, as
opposed to sitting through a lecture.
Students will also learn how to work
with others with different perspectives
and backgrounds when they participate
Wallkill Public Library Outreach Coordinator
Carolyn Thorenz shows the tiny historical
figurines to a history class at John G Borden
Middle School. The new Historical Miniature
Gaming Society will provide students an
immersive learning experience.
in group projects such as the club,
Schnekman said.
Schnekman said students retain
more information when they are
asked questions and focus on projects,
facilitating their problem-solving skills.
“It’s more where education is moving
towards; where the students are in the
driver’s seat and you’re just kind of
guiding them,” Schnekman said.
Students can also visit the sites in New
York where these historic battles took
place, such as the Battle of Saratoga,
which will be the first battle the club
will complete. Thorenz said she hopes
to have a battle at the Temple at the
New Windsor Cantonment, where George
Washington gave his emotional address
that confirmed the power of Congress
and ended the Newburgh Conspiracy.
The club will meet once a month at the
Wallkill library, but there may be room in
the future for further collaboration with
the Wallkill school district.
Maggie Anderson, John G Borden
Middle School principal, said she is
excited for the program and would like
to explore partnership opportunities with
the library to provide students with more
learning opportunities.
“It’s important to partner with
resources in the community because it
opens up opportunities to extend learning
beyond the classroom,” Anderson said.
The club’s first meeting will be on Oct.
22 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Wallkill Public
Library. Contact Thorenz at cthorenz@
rcls.org for more information.