Historical figures come alive at elementary school’s wax museum

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

Historical figures, such as George Washington, Pocahontas and Queen Elizabeth I, came to life when they lined the hallways and commons areas at New Buffalo Elementary School Friday, May 19.

It was all part of the school’s first wax museum, which was put on by its two fifth grade classes.

Decked out in historically accurate costumes (some of which included wigs) of their chosen figure, students remained as still as statues – that is, until someone pressed the “button” on the floor in front of them. Then, students came alive to deliver a memorized speech about how their historical person made their mark in American history and to answer questions about them.

Morgan Edquist, one of the fifth grade teachers, said the around two-week project was part of their social studies unit.

“Throughout social studies, we cover everything historically, from indigenous people through the Revolutionary War – so they had to choose someone who stuck out to them for the whole time period and research them,” she said.

Students then were tasked with incorporating the most important parts of the person into a speech, coming up with a costume and then symbolizing the person in a backdrop behind them.

“They went all out for it,” she said.

Barb Reed, the other fifth grade teacher, said some of the students bought costumes from Amazon, while some made them themselves.

“There’s a lot of creativity for sure,”she said.