Exploring LegacyQuest 2014! The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat: Ancient Olympics—ESPN Style

Our featured video this week comes from The Baldwin School in Pennsylvania and received an Honorable Mention at this year’s festival. It’s ESPN Sports antiquity-style: Get all the latest sports news from the ancient world and learn how our modern sports compare to the ancient ones. This film was created by middle school students Leah, Maria, Bradleigh, Meghna and Jennifer with the help of their teacher, Jeannette Keshishian.

Watching the Winter Olympics is exciting and inspiring. Witnessing startling feats of athleticism and touching examples of sportsmanship may encourage you to take up a sport yourself or maybe just become a more dedicated fan. For these students, watching the Games inspired them to do their LegacyQuest project on the comparison between ancient and modern sports. They had this to say about their film topic choice:

We all like sports…Sports can be played all throughout your life. Why not learn about the sports from back in the Greek times? Sports have been improved over the past. They haven’t died down since the Greek times.[1]

Once they had their topic, choosing a method of discussing it was easy. They decided to do a television sportscast talk show. They thought they could “make it fun” and the audience would understand the ancient sports better if the students portrayed the events as part of a very modern format.[2] Several sports were discussed including boxing, wrestling, horseback riding, chariot racing and track. Each sport was examined thoroughly and the students even set up a real track race complete with runners, times and scores.

Everyone said they thoroughly enjoyed the project and that each person pitched in to make it the best film possible. They learned a lot about sports, filmmaking and ancient history.

Before we head off to the ancient races, let’s take a minute to learn more about these sporty students.

Leah likes to play sports, swim and spend time with her five siblings and friends. Her favorite classes in school are English and sports.

Maria likes to dance and play sports. Her favorite class in school is math.

Bradleigh likes to hang out with her friends and brother. Her favorite class in school is math.

Meghna likes to play squash and read. Her favorite class in school is science.

Jennifer likes to draw and hang out with friends. Her favorite class in school is science.