TPMS 8th graders spent February 15 immersed in the Civil War. They tried hardtack (pictured below), learned about the Confederate raid that came through Takoma, and watched as Kari Turner, education director of the Museum of Civil War Medicine wielded a bone saw, above, simulating an amputation.

Middle School parents made the hardtack from flour, water and lots of salt. Turner says usually soldiers soaked hardtack in coffee to soften it and allow the weevils to float to the top.

Above, civil war re-enactor Frank Parsons told students that people were usually born and died at home, doctors would make house calls for $1, and surgery was typically done at home, on the kitchen or dining room table.

Artifacts such as these brought history to life for TPMS students.