Bernadette Portmann\u2019s\u00a0 42 fourth and fifth graders from Corpus Christi Catholic School in Chambersburg, Pa. recently piled onto the bus for their spring field trip to the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.<\/p>\n
They traveled 30 miles \u2013 and 208 years \u2013 to get there.<\/p>\n
When they exited the bus at the Emmitsburg, Md., Shrine, they stepped into the year 1818 where they encountered Elizabeth Ann Seton\u2019s world, touring her home and the building where she created both the first order of religious sisters and the first Catholic school for girls in the United States.\u00a0 Academy Alive, the Shrine\u2019s popular annual immersive history program, facilitated their time travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s phenomenal,\u201d said Portmann said. \u201cJust to have the hands-on experience, especially this immersion where the actors are portraying the roles. It really does come alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
She watched her students\u00a0 as they interacted with historical interpreters in period attire, who offered a classroom lesson on the American flag (there were only 20 stars representing states in 1818) and a music rehearsal in the chapel. They even had a conversation with Mother Seton, the first native-born American to be canonized \u2013 a timely topic given that the U.S. is celebrating its 250th<\/sup> birthday this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have been learning about how well disciplined the children of two centuries ago were,\u201d Portmann said. \u201cThey have also learned about where Mother Seton came from and what her mission was here \u2014 serving the poor, serving the sick, and of course educating.\u201d<\/p>\n The Corpus Christi school joined other school groups, families and visitors\u00a0 from surrounding areas for the Academy Alive program that ran from April 27 through May 2. More than 1,000 tickets were sold this year, an increase from 884\u00a0 last year and a steady climb for the last four years. It was the first time the program featured a historical interpreter portraying Mother Seton. The Shrine\u2019s education coordinator Erica Delp was tapped for the role.<\/p>\n \u201cSince Elizabeth Ann Seton was an educator and a pioneer of the Catholic School System, to me, it is pretty important that we offer a dynamic program that inspires students and invigorates faith,\u201d\u00a0 Delp said.<\/p>\n Delp runs the Junior History Interpreter program, which is a part of the Living History Program at the Seton Shrine that is designed train girls between the ages of 9 and 18 in the skill of historical interpretation. \u00a0\u00a0She also creates the interpretive content and directs adults who portray the Sisters of Charity who served as instructors at St. Joseph\u2019s School, the school Mother Seton founded and the forerunner of\u00a0 . Joseph\u2019s Academy.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to embrace the identity of Academy Alive as our experience for school students, so I have done my best to try to form the program to have school age students learn about life at Elizabeth Ann Seton\u2019s school specifically<\/u>, rather than just school in general,\u201d Delp said.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s Academy Alive coincided with a new self-guided exhibit in the Shrine\u2019s modern museum, Do the Good: This Sisters Who Shaped America<\/em>,\u00a0 now open to the public.\u00a0 The exhibit tells the stories of the more than\u00a0 20,000 religious sisters who trace their lineage back to Mother Seton, showing how they served the needs of the poor and the sick throughout pivotal eras in our nation\u2019s history. Visitors can explore how the Sisters faith and good works shaped and defined education, health care and social services for more than two hundred years, and how the Sisters continue to serve today.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Do the Good\u2019\u201d\u00a0 is\u00a0 an example of how Elizabeth and other religious Sisters answered the question: How can I make the world a better place?,\u201d Delp said. \u201cThe answer is St. Vincent De Paul\u2019s instruction to\u00a0 \u2018Do the good wherever it presents itself,\u2019 which the Sisters took to heart back then. The Sisters and Daughters of Charity continue that theme in their work today.\u201d<\/p>\n Corpus Christi fourth grader Grace Ramsey enjoyed the interaction with Delp as Mother Seton. \u201cIt was very fun,\u201d she said. \u201cShe asked us a lot of questions. We got to learn about what life was like back then.\u201d .<\/p>\n Her classmate Edward\u00a0 Barrera\u00a0 added that he learned that St. Vincent De Paul had a great influence on the American saint and her religious community. He enjoyed the entire program, including the outdoor games and walking the Shrine\u2019s expansive grounds\u00a0 \u201cIt was amazing because of all the beauty that I saw. It was perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n As the students got back on the bus to return to Chambersburg, they left 1818 behind but took the lessons they learned with them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really fun. I think the reenactors (historical interpreters) were super kind,\u201d said fifth grader Ireland Zubia.<\/p>\n Portmann added: \u201cIt is absolutely inspiring. I feel like grace is just in every nook and cranny. It is a lovely day that God has given us to be here.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" They thought it was just a field trip\u2014until they stepped off the bus and came face-to-face with a living saint in 1818.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":258135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3920],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsroom"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPortrait of a Saint <\/u><\/h3>\n
\u201cMeeting\u201d Mother Seton\u00a0 <\/u><\/h3>\n