Liberty students wax enthusiastic about history

Students bring figures from the past to life

By SARAH Lehr

slehr@vindy.com

LIBERTY

Ayah Mufleh, a third-grade student at E.J. Blott Elementary School, arrived at her class’s wax museum armed with a pen and a book.

Ayah dressed as Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for the education of girls and the youngest person ever to receive a Nobel Prize. Ayah chose her props as a nod to Yousafzai’s quote “One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.”

More than 100 third-grade students, comprising four classrooms, hosted the wax museum Tuesday for their parents.

In addition to performing at the event, the students conducted research and wrote five-paragraph essays about their historical figures.

Holly McNeese, third-grade intervention specialist, said the wax museum allows students to practice patience, interacting with adults and public speaking.

“These are skills necessary for college and career-readiness,” McNeese said. “It’s an activity that can be adapted for many different types of learners.”

Third-grade teacher Amy Brown said she believed students were enthusiastic about the assignment because each child had the opportunity to choose his or her own historical figure.

“If you look around, you’ll see a lot of diversity of time periods and cultures,” Brown said.

Due to her love of gymnastics, Nia Burney selected Olympic gold medal winner Gabrielle Douglas. Nia was delighted to learn Douglas shared her favorite color – purple – and said her favorite part of the project was writing a five-paragraph essay about Douglas’ life.

Some of the students said the presentation aspect of the assignment was a challenge, but Bethany Boykin said she isn’t intimidated by public speaking.

“I like it,” she said. “I practiced a lot of times.”

Bethany researched Ruby Bridges, the first black child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in 1960.

“She inspires me to be the kind of person I should be,” Bethany said.