Teachers like their students to be well-mannered.

But when Karl Rupert was soundly booed by Farrell high schoolers because one of his projects didn't live up to expectations, all he could do was laugh.

There was quite a bit of hype building up to the public demonstration of the trebuchet, a catapult-like device that was a piece of medieval heavy artillery.

"This was one of the main weapons for castle warfare," Rupert said.

But if Friday's demonstration was a good indicator, the denizens of any castle he wanted to storm could sip their grog worry-free. The plans for the trebuchet -- which uses a counterweight while a catapult uses a spring -- were pulled from the Inter-net, and Rupert's physics stu-dents and Steve Sipos' general technology charges built it.

Farrell's model was sup-posed to be able to hurl an eight-pound ball 300 feet. The projectile of choice: a head of cabbage.

On the first try, the cab-bage flew about 50 feet. The second head was thrown straight backward, smashing into a loading dock below where students were standing.

A fragment from the second head was launched and shot straight up into the air, losing leaves as it fell into a crowd of students.

"Cole slaw for lunch, Rupert," shouted teacher James Cardamon.

Softballs flew better, but no farther that the first head of cabbage.

Brian Perfilio, a ninth-grader who helped build the trebuchet, said he was disappointed at the showing.

"When you guys weren't here earlier, it went great," Brian said. "We had one go 216 feet."

Rupert said Brian's estimation was a bit of an exaggeration.

"I don't think we got over 150 feet," he said of a softball. "But that was in the wind."

Dodging flying cabbage isn't your normal classroom endeavor, but that was the point. Farrell Area High School spent the entire month of January studying the Middle Ages, which date roughly from the years 400 to 1500 as European empires emerged from the dissolution of the Roman Empire.

Dragons, damsels and knights abounded as students read Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," and compared it to the movie "10 Things I Hate About You," painted coats of arms, built castles, explored the history of gargoyles and England's legal system, sewed stuffed unicorns, learned medieval musical pieces, figured out how much material it would take to paint a castle, and played a game called The Bubonic Plague that focused on life in Europe.

But Europe was not the sole focus of study, as the time period was explored in different cultures, particularly Japan.

A Medieval Faire Friday offered the students a chance to sample delicacies popular at the time and show off their art projects.

Lisa Oliver, who teaches seventh-grade English, was credited with initiating the idea of medieval study. Former Principal Frank Sincek wanted the study to be school-wide, and funding from the district and Ted Pedas through a Great Idea! grant allowed the purchase of materials.

"We've never done anything like this before, concentrating on one subject and examining it across the whole curriculum," said Ms. Oliver, noting that medieval times is one of her favorite subjects.

"What's good about it is, because all the teachers are doing it, the teachers are talking to each other about it and talking about the kids' reactions to it," said Mary Elizabeth Moroco, whose English students discussed the treatment of women.

Through puppet shows -- students made the puppets and scenery, wrote the show scripts and performed them -- the medieval climate was filtered to the younger grades.

"I think it's a good idea for the little ones to see what they're expected to learn," said first-grade teacher Joan Hunter, adding that younger students readily learn from older ones.

"It's also gives the bigger kids a chance to show off," she said.

Ms. Oliver's puppeteers quizzed first- and second-graders on the puppet shows, and awarded them candy, toys and the puppets they had made.

While some students got bored with such an in-depth study of a single subject, many of the students got into it, Ms. Moroco said.

"It's a time so far removed from us that people wonder about it," she said.

Eighth-grader Nick Gargano said that was part of the reason the month-long study appealed to him.

"It was fun," he said. "We got to do a lot of stuff we wouldn't normally be able to do."

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at jpinchot@sharon-herald.com