Daniel and Michelle Larkin Family - Shane in News: Handy students recreate Fort Hardy

The class has just completed a model of the famous fort, ending a 12-week project. Their creation was presented for display to the Visitors Center at Schuyler's Canal Park in Schuylerville, an information station maintained by the villages of Schuylerville and Victory and the town of Saratoga.

''The class took on a complex job, and excelled,'' Principal Michael Mugits said, looking over the finished work. ''It's quite extraordinary.''

The project took the students on a journey deep into history, research methodology and 3-dimensional modeling. It included a field trip to Fort Edward, and offered the opportunity to use the Internet for long-distance research.

''Great, exciting and fun,'' were comments from the group describing the project. Participating students were Sherry Starks, Nick Scynski, Sharon Ruhle, Avi Stack, Katie MacDaniel, Darcy Griffin, Sharon Hathaway, Shane Larkin, Brian Palmer, Rachel Wysocki, Joseph Scallo and Aaron Ethier.

The students' strong motivation was driven by some real-world incentives. Their success won a $100 prize offered by the Old Saratoga/New Schuylerville Association, which they are turning around to help purchase a rare document for Schuylerville High School. The document is a letter written early in the Revolution by Philip Schuyler to John Jay, a fellow patriot who became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Fort Hardy was a huge depot and troop station built in 1757, when ''old Saratoga,'' present-day Schuylerville, was near the northern frontier for the colony of New York. Its construction was motivated by a fierce raid by French troops and their native allies from Canada that devastated the village a few years earlier.

Today Fort Hardy Park is a playing field for young athletes across the county. They test their prowess on the ground where General John Burgoyne's British army surrendered its arms and colors in October 1777, ending the battles of Saratoga.

The Fort Hardy model will be on display at the Visitors Center at Schuyler's Canal Park in Schuylerville except for occasional absences while it is on tour