The students in Mrs. Todd’s Humanities class at Piner Middle School have recently been studying the culture of ancient Greece. They culminated their study by presenting Greek plays. Each student chose a god or goddess, researched him or her and wrote a script, along with the other members of their group. They all dressed up as their god or goddess, complete with at least one prop which symbolized their powers. The plays began with the students introducing themselves, telling their powers and what the Greeks believed about them. Next, they acted out a story that was told about the gods by the ancient Greeks, with creative twists and parodies added by the students. For example, the audience, made up of parents and teachers, saw Queen Hera exert her power by turning Io into a cow with a magic wand, Aphrodite get the gods to stop fighting with each other by giving them some of her love potion, Pandora letting evils out into the world by opening a pirate treasure chest, and Hades kidnap Persephone from her play and take her to the underworld. Next, the students will attend a Greek festival where they will eat typical foods of the time including olives, grapes, sweet bread, and the food of the gods-ambrosia. During the festival, the Greek philosopher Socrates will visit the class and tell them his philosophy that the gods and goddesses do not really exist. It is suspected that he will be arrested by the school police officer for “corrupting the minds of the youth.” Humanities is offered as an elective to eighth grade students.