EAST LONGMEADOW – Mary Broderick, a fourth grade teacher at Mountain View Elementary School, will be one of 72 K-12 teachers from across the country attending a history workshop in Old Deerfield next month.

Broderick told Reminder Publications the workshop, entitled “Living on the Edge of Empire,” will focus on the Feb. 29, 1704 French and Indian raid on Deerfield.

Teachers attending the workshop are required to read two books for the workshop course – “The Unredeemed Captive” and “Captors and Captives,” both of which are set in Deerfield during the raids, Broderick said.

“Those authors come and present at these workshops,” she noted. “Part of this grant is called a landmark grant because you actually go to the site where the history took place.”  

Each workshop day will include discussions with distinguished scholars of early American history and Native American culture and would also include lessons and discussions, small group sessions, and collaborating by figuring out ways to integrate the material into classrooms, according to information from the district.

Broderick said she’s looking forward to bringing her experiences from the workshop back to the classroom.

“[I hope to] collaborate with other colleagues so that I can tie this into our curriculum as well as discuss it with the fifth grade teachers,” she noted. “They study U.S. history and we study geography, but I also incorporate significant events that have happened in different parts of the country as we move across the United States and learn about the geography.”

Workshop activities will also include field excursions to Peskeompskut, the site of a major battle during the King Phillips’ War. Evening events will include presentations of period specific food, music, and dances.

The National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks, a federal agency that supports summer study opportunities for teachers related to American history and culture, supports the program, which will be hosted by the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) of Deerfield.

“Teachers will find many ways to engage their own students in American history by studying the 1704 Raid on Deerfield,” PVMA Executive Director Tim Neumann stated. “The bucolic New England town of Deerfield, Massachusetts of today was, for one brief, three-hour span in the early 18th century, the main stage of violent clashing between European colonial empires, diverse Native American nations, and personal visions and ambitions.”

He continued, “If one were to find oneself back in time early in the morning of Feb. 29, 1704, one would be met by the flicker of flames and smell of smoke and gun powder; one’s ears would be awash in a cacophony of French, English, and Native voices mixed with battle sounds and cries of despair and triumph.”

He said the attack on Deerfield had a “profound legacy,” which influenced English colonies up to the advent of the American Revolution.  

The workshop also includes professional development points for teachers and $1,200 stipends to assist with the costs of attending the weeklong session.

Broderick said she wrote an essay as a submission to the workshop.

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