The Villages Chapter of SAR announced Jack Ciotti as their speaker on Saturday, April 11, at 10 a.m. at the Captiva Recreation Center.
Ciotti will speak on the life of a British soldier in America during the Revolutionary War. He will recount anecdotes about the life of a soldier, while also explaining the dietary, sanitary and disciplinary conditions soldiers had to endure, and the primitive medical practices they had to survive.
Ciotti was raised in Thornwood, New York, and became fascinated with history by watching the “American Hero” episodes of Walt Disney Presents. After graduating from Pace University, he first worked in sales and marketing at Verizon before starting his second career as an award-winning historian, author, educator and re-enactor. Before his early retirement from Verizon, he began developing living-history presentations about the Revolutionary War and the Civil War to bring hands-on history experiences to students throughout Westchester County, New York.
One of Ciotti’s favorite things as a middle-school teacher was to involve his American history students in historical re-enactments, complete with costumes he provided for each student, to create a living history experience for both his students and observers. He was honored with four teaching awards from the City of Yonkers and from the State Senate of New York. He also served as an adjunct professor at Westchester Community College.
Ciotti has appeared in several movies, including The Patriot, Gettysburg and Liberty. He has also written scripts for and appeared in educational videos on both the Civil War and the American Revolution, which won the Parents’ Choice Award in 1999.
Now living in The Villages, Ciotti is an instructor at the Enrichment Academy and is in demand as a speaker for educational programs at historical societies, schools and museums.