On Friday, December 9, 2022, Mrs. Schattle’s AP  European History class took a memorable trip to Medieval Times as their knight carries home the gold.

Although the field trip to Medieval Times happens every year for AP Euro, last year was the first time in a while they actually took the trip due to Covid.

“I had a bigger group this year than in years past,” said Mrs. Schattle, LTHS AP European History teacher, “last year was the first year we had gone since Covid, so the two previous years had been canceled because of Covid.”

However, the Medieval Times arena was packed, the crowd widely varying in schools and ages.

“I’d say there was a bigger turnout,” said Mrs. Schattle. “Like last year, there were only a few schools that were there besides us, and this year there was a packed house, so it was a lot of fun.”

Medieval Times targets younger audience and centers their program around what appeases and entertains that age group.

“I think there was maybe one other high school,” said Senior Carolyn Love, “and the rest were like 3rd graders at the oldest, so it’s definitely geared toward younger people.”

Mrs. Schattle’s class expected to be mildly entertained because they weren’t the exact intended audience. However, both Mrs. Schattle and her class describe greatly enjoying the experience, much to their surprise.

“So, I knew it was going to be interesting, but I knew it was geared towards younger children, so I didn’t expect it to be as intense as it was. Honestly it was kind of stressful, and it was really fun,” said Love. “Everyone is assigned their own knight and so you’re rooting for your knight, and if you win it’s pretty cool.”

When going to Medieval Times, keep in mind that although learning is integrated in the event, it is also a high-strung competition. Each school is assigned a knight, then sits around an arena to watch their knight joust against other knights, swordfight, ride on horses and more. While the script can be predictable, it still manages to be exciting and sometimes surprising.

“Honestly, the part where we won was pretty exciting, because there was a lot of hype surrounding our knight in the beginning,” said Love. “I thought like, script-wise he wasn’t going to win because the one that’s expected to win doesn’t win, but he won and that was my favorite part.”

Overall, both Mrs. Schattle and her class agree that the field trip was worth it and lots of fun for everyone concerned.

“They do a really good job,” said Love. “I thought the costumes were really impressive, the horses, like I said, were really well trained, the inside parts of it were really cool interior-wise like with the paintings and everything, so that’s probably the coolest part of medieval times in general.”