Marshmallow bullets and tennis ball cannons

PLEASANT GROVE — Some of the soldiers in Central Elementary's Civil War battles have been preparing for years.

They've known since kindergarten that the secret to winning a war lies in having a good PVC pipe rifle and a substantial supply of marshmallow bullets in your knapsack. It can also lie in choosing to be on the side that actually won years ago.

"They make their guns for years," said Lisa Young. Her son, Bronson, fought in this month's war on the playground behind the school. "They've been training for months."

"The fourth-graders so want to do this," said fifth-grade student Morgan Craghead. Craghead was a sergeant in the Confederate Army in the mock battle for Little Round Top south of Gettysburg. "It doesn't matter that we lost. It's still fun."

Fifth-grade teachers Mark Daymont, Julie van Dijk and Crystal Wilde rally behind fellow teacher Mark Hayes and stage the reenactment each spring.

The 62 children in their classes don uniforms of gray and blue, learn how the battles go, pick up their weapons and prepare to die for the cause. They carry the flags of the Union and the Confederacy. They march, huddle behind the wooden barricades they build and fire at the enemy.

The script includes music from the movie "Gettysburg." PTA President-elect Shauna DeBuck narrates so an audience of siblings, parents and peers can follow the action.

"Oh! That guy got shot!," said Noah Mulen, a second-grade student on the lawn.

"Hey, the guy that got shot just shot the captain!" said Addie Horseley, a kindergarten student.

"The best part is when the Confederates surrender," said Kenzie Olson, a student in the audience.

"It's funny and it looks cool," said Colton Hansen, also watching.

Bill Schuler, a school technician, said although it's a mock battle, it gets to the kids, "It becomes pretty emotional for them. It is for us too. "

"I think it's wonderful. The learning opportunities are remarkable," said Susan McNees. "It's helped my grandson understand what my husband's great-great-grandfather went through as a soldier for the Confederacy."

Hayes said the students take the history more seriously after working through the battles. Some even cry to find out their character died in the first battle.

"We're going to fight and win because we're the Union," said Dexton Armstrong, a "sergeant" in blue.

Carly Capt, a soldier for the Union, said she wasn't planning on getting killed but if she did, she could come back to life after a few minutes. "But if you get shot too many times, the general says maybe you should go to the hospital."