Everyone knows that this school attracts kids who favor dynamic, multi-modal learning situations. Less obvious is the degree to which we attract teachers who are equally passionate about direct experience within their subject area. One fine example is Phil Goodnow, who received the Arthur Makechnie Chair award in June, and used the stipend to pursue his love of 1740-1770 America. After completing a 15-year research project on his forebearer Daniel Goodenow (sic), he spent this summer traipsing around New England--dressed in colonial garb--to musters and battlefield re-enactments, teaching and learning the ways and manners of that era. Phil and his daughter, Hilary '05, volunteered on Tuesdays as "interpreters" at The Fort at No. 4, in Charlestown, New Hampshire.

Located on the banks of the Connecticut River, the fort, which comprises six spacious homes connected by lean-tos within a ten-foot stockade, is a facsimile built in recent decades near the site of the original, on a large parcel of land chartered by the Massachusetts General Court and known as "Number 4" (the previous three "plantations" were to the south.)

Hilary playes the role of Mrs. Isaac Parker, who is the mother of five. Her faux husband, Isaac, is played by a handsome young man who spent a few minutes teaching young Jonathon Goodnow to play a colonial pegboard game.

Jonathon, probably true to his colonial character, exhibited little interest in the game. Hilary played her role as Mrs. Parker perfectly--generally ignoring her husband in favor of fashioning a dress from a template. Below, Hilary, Jonathan and Phil in the parlor of the Parker house: