Clark County students step back in time to learn

Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center students and staff learned about a classic American novel by encouraging students to use their career paths to re-enact the era.

CTC seniors recently read “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 11th and 12th grade English teacher Michelle Carn said.

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So the school held a Gatsby-themed luncheon Tuesday and combined all career paths like culinary, hospitality and arts to celebrate the event as a class project.

“We work with lots of different students to use their strengths and talents to make a great party,” Carn said. “We tried to incorporate academics within their career path program as much as we can. So we wanted to mix the two. Take America’s greatest American novel that’s a classic and make it realistic to their world.”

The Culinary Arts program made a 1920s inspired menu that included tossed Waldorf salad, fettuccine Alfredo, salmon with maple glaze, grilled asparagus and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Hospitality and Tourism students decorated the room with tea lights and black and gold balloons. Some of the prints and signs were created by the senior Joshlyn Carter, who’s studying computer graphic arts. She’s happy she read the book.

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She and other students got the chance to dress like they were in the ’20s by wearing flappers, suits, suspenders and bow-ties.

She’s a big history fan and has relatives who grew during that era, so she said it was fun to see how her grandparents, great aunts and uncles lived.

“We got immersed into the culture, the type of food they ate, the types of clothes,” Carter said. “So it really helped us understand ‘The Great Gatsby’ and the ’20s.”

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