Did you catch the article in the Joplin Globe about our encounter with ​the Kansas City Chiefs mascot, KC Wolf?  This photo by Globe photographer Roger Nomer features one of our own, as he tries the skin on for size.  Dan Meers, the man usually inside the costume, enchanted the student body with the ABC of Success, a message that emphasizes Attitude, Behavior, and Character.

For a moment or two, buried beneath 30 pounds of costumed fur, [this] 9-year-old officially became KC Wolf, the lovable Kansas City Chiefs mascot.

The Cecil Floyd Elementary fourth-grader couldn’t help but giggle beneath the oversized wolf head as he swung his body back and forth, which in turn jiggled the costume’s 85-inch-wide hips. More than 500 pupils watching from the auditorium floor howled with laughter.

“It was extremely sweaty,” said [the boy] about the experience afterwards. “The shoes were a little awkward, a little funny to walk in.”

And the famed head, with its backward-facing Chiefs hat and googly eyes?
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“It was kind of hard to see,” [the boy] admitted, receiving multiple high fives from his classmates after climbing out of the costume.

How did Virginians evolve from British subjects to American citizens? That is a compelling question.  I am not sure of the answer.  The people living during the transition of British colonies to independent American states must have given pause to many, while at the same time inspiring others to rebellion.  John Adams surmised that, during the Revolution, one-third of the people were Patriots, one-third British-loyal Tories, and one-third undecided.  It would not have been easy to decide the right path with which to side. The outline for the week at the institute lists supporting questions for each day of programming:

Why did England establish colonies? What was their purpose?

As the Jamestown colony expanded, how did the diversity of the populace both contribute to success and lead to conflict?

Why was Jamestown successful when other North American colonization attempts failed?

How do we know what we know about people who lived in the past?

How was Williamsburg a center of British government, commerce, and culture?
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• How did the diversity of the Williamsburg populace both contribute to success and lead to conflict?

What role did Virginia and other North American colonies play in Britain’s economy?
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• What was the importance of agriculture in colonial Virginia and how did it influence the institution of slavery? ​

How did eighteenth-century Williamsburg culture reflect the origins of Europeans, Africans, and American Indians living and working there?

How did daily life differ for the various social levels and groups?

​Where and how did people from different social levels interact? 

What caused American colonists to rebel against the most powerful country in the world?

​What was the significant impact of Yorktown?

Were the members of the revolutionary generation founders or traitors?

What does it mean to be an American?

​As citizens, what role do we have in carrying forward these ideals or changing them? 

Elementary school sessions focus on the daily life of colonial Virginians and the transition from subject to citizen that occurred during the Revolutionary War period. Teachers will be immersed in hands-on activities at Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown that highlight the stories of the people living during this time. During the session, teachers will:
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• Identify and analyze significant seventeenth- and eighteenth-century economic, political, and social events that led to American independence from Great Britain.
• Chart the evolution of citizenship, from being British subjects to becoming American citizens.
• Explain how Native American, European, and African interactions shaped and defined the American character.
• Examine colonial social levels, gender roles, and specific populations such as gentry, middling sort, lesser sort, free and enslaved African Americans, and Native Americans.
• Integrate primary, secondary, and technology resources in classroom instruction focused on early American history and citizenship.
• Create opportunities for continued professional development in social studies education with fellow teachers and Colonial Williamsburg educators.

During the week, teachers will:
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• Identify and analyze significant seventeenth- and eighteenth-century economic, political, and social events that led to American independence from Great Britain.
• Chart the evolution of citizenship, from being British subjects to becoming American citizens.
• Explain how Native American, European, and African interactions shaped and defined the American character.
• Examine colonial social levels, gender roles, and specific populations such as gentry, middling, free blacks, lesser sort, enslaved, and Native Americans.
• Integrate primary sources, secondary sources, and technological resources in classroom instruction focused on early American history and citizenship.
• Create opportunities for continued professional development in social studies education with fellow teachers and Colonial Williamsburg educators.
• Experience 42 program contact hours.