Feb. 21, 2019 -- On a recent Tuesday morning, the gym at Oxford Elementary School was transformed into a wax museum complete with figures ranging from Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank to NASA engineer Mary Jackson and computer scientist and inventor Mark Dean.
Students in the school’s two 5th grade classes each chose an “inspirational and influential” person to research as part of their social studies and language arts curriculum. Working both in class and at home, students created brochures and tri-fold displays with basic information, pictures, timelines, quotes, accomplishments and interesting facts. Then they did the harder part: actually embodying their figure.
From the one glove-wearing, silver microphone-holding Michael Jackson to the leotard-clad Gabby Douglas, the famous figures were stationed around the gym, frozen in position waiting for a curious visitor to push the “button,” a sticker on their hand, that would make them spring into life. They then recited speeches they had written, some—like the very creative and enthusiastic Albert Einstein—complete with jokes and a pop quiz.
Teacher Kristie Marbury was very impressed with how hard her students worked on this project. “They really did a great job.” Fellow students, teachers and parents, who all visited the Wax Museum, were impressed as well. “This is my first time here,” said mother Shalonda Robinson, “and it was really well put together. Very informative. And amazing!”
The effort—and the critical thinking it inspired—was obvious. Maxwell Robinson, one of two students who chose Martin Luther King Jr., was surprised to learn that he had been arrested more than 200 times. He realized that “if the law is wrong, then breaking it is right.”
Pryncess King, who studied Will Smith, was happy to learn that the television, music and movie star has given more than $3 million to charity. And Jordan Lashore-Yelder wondered why everyone knows the names of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs but so few people know of Mark Dean, an African American who holds multiple patents in computer technology and is the co-creator of the IBM personal computer. Perhaps Jordan’s research and presentation will help give this man the recognition he deserves.
