Military Strategy Games Series for Middle Schoolers

The Wilton Historical Society announces a new workshop for students in grades six through eight, An Empire to Gain or Lose: Military Strategy Games for Middle School Students, taught by historian and author Dan Kinley (Common Courage, The Campaign of a Revolutionary War Veteran).

The workshop will run for six Tuesdays, from 3:30 pm to 5 pm, October 9 - November 13. Future strategists will meet at the Historical Society’s Abbott Barn, 224 Danbury Road, in Wilton. Reservations are required and students are strongly encouraged to attend all six workshops.

Based on the European wars from 1803-1815, middle school students are invited to “control a European empire and change history,” says instructor Dan Kinley. “We will focus on the Napoleonic war in Europe and learn how that period relates to North America. The workshop will give students a better idea of the origin of US involvement in the War of 1812.” Students will use maps of Europe and North America showing the boundaries of the empires of the time.

The workshop coincides with other War of 1812 programming at the Wilton Historical Society this fall. The History Channel’s film, The War of 1812 (Part I), will be shown on Monday October 8 at 6:30 pm at the Abbott Barn. And, for the sixth year The Historical Society is partnering with Wilton Library for the lecture series “A Star-Spangled Nation: The War of 1812.” The first lecture, Causes and Impact of the War, takes place at the Wilton Library on Sunday, October 14 from 2 to 4:00 pm. History Professor Matthew Warshauer will provide an overview of the war including politics pre- and post-war, its overall impact, and Andrew Jackson's controversial contributions that brought him into the national spotlight.