When students walked into Room 220 on Wednesday and Thursday last week, they were greeted with black tea and British scones.
Katie Bauman, AP European History teacher, has hosted a Victorian-style tea party for her AP European students every year since 2021. In addition to adhering to Victorian etiquette standards and eating tea sandwiches and biscuits, students attend as a person from the late 19th century.
Bauman said students research their assigned historical figure to understand their perspective on topics such as imperialism, feminism and socialism. Students then dress up and act like their figure at the tea party.
“I feel like it helps to break down barriers, too, between students and let down their guard a little bit,” Bauman said. “You just nerd out and have fun with it.”
Afterward, Bauman said students write a personal reflection, similar to a diary entry, about their experiences at the party. The goal of the tea party is to help students better grasp the important issues and people of the late 1800s.
Bauman credits the idea for a tea party to a professional group she is a part of.
“This professional group is AP Euro teachers from across the country that just share ideas that they come up with and lectures and it has saved my life so many times and given me some really good activities,” Bauman said.
Bauman said activities like the tea party help make her class more fun for students.
“I know that my class has a reputation for being difficult, and it is, but I feel that it is very well worth the experience, even if it is going to prove to be an extra challenge in your life,” Bauman said. “Even if they don’t remember anything about the class, they’ll remember having a good time.”
Raghavi Garre, sophomore, dressed up as the writer Oscar Wilde.
“It was a lot of fun because we got to argue and converse with people from that time period,” Garre said.
Garre enjoyed talking with Caroline Soller, sophomore, who came to the party as the British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. Garre said both Wilde and Pankhurstin were in favor of the women’s rights movement.
To Garre, the research before the tea party was fun.
“I would have never known who Oscar Wilde was without doing this research project,” Garre said.
Ernesto Torres, sophomore, went to the party as Napoleon III. Napoleon III helped modernize France after the French civil war, Torres said.
While Torres enjoyed the cookies and sandwiches, he said the tea wasn’t his favorite.
“I’ve never tried tea before, and I thought it was really weird,” Torres said.
Torres said his most interesting conversation was with Alexander III of Russia, who was assigned to Cole Mayberry, sophomore. Alexander III was a peace-oriented leader whose rule was seen as very positive for Russia, Mayberry said.
While they both agreed on some policies, the two leaders differed on their opinions of Napoleon I. Mayberry said he enjoyed being able to talk to everyone in his class, whether that meant arguing or agreeing with others.
“We all got to talk to each other and get to know each other because a lot of the people in the class I’ve never even talked to,” Mayberry said.
Mayberry said AP European History is his only class that does events like the tea party.
“This is not my best grade in high school, but this is one of my favorite classes by far,” Mayberry said.
