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Fifth graders at Williams Intermediate School brought history to life, creating a living wax museum for their peers, parents and teachers to enjoy.

The project allowed students to combine the topics they are studying in their history classes and the reading and speaking skills they are developing in language arts classes.

Ashli Gilley, one of the fifth grade language arts teachers came up with the idea and led the efforts to help students put the living wax museum together.

“I did a project like this when I taught in Oklahoma and thought it would be a good idea to do it here,” Gilley said.

Special education teachers Adam Ross and Tanya Osborne along with history teacher Amy Smartt collaborated with Gilley on the project.

Students selected a person that played an important role in American history to study and gathered information about those historical figures by checking out biographies from the library to read and conducting research on the Internet.

Students depicted individuals by creating costumes and props that symbolized the significance of contributions to American history.

“They even created motions and poses,” Gilley said. “If they needed help finding the right costume or prop we made sure they had what they needed.  But they owned it.”

Participants gave presentations throughout the day in the school library.  Presenting in front of peers helped students strengthen their oral presentation skills, developing confidence in their abilities to succeed academically.

Carmelanie Gray played the role of Rosa Parks.

“I actually learned about Rosa Pars,” Gray said.  “She stood up for what she believed in.  She was a very special person.”

The cast included figures that made contributions to politics, sports, science, entertainment and civil rights.

“Our teachers were really good at help us understand and learn what we needed to learn,” Paul Kirk said.  Kirk played the role of New York Yankees baseball player Babe Ruth.

Rebecca Hooks, who learned about and dressed up as Elanor Roosevelt said she enjoyed the challenge of memorization.

“We had to use our minds to try to remember things in front of people and we got to use our reading skills,” Hooks said.

The teachers hoped the student would not only remember what they learned but also remember what it means to succeed.

“We hope they remember what it feels like to be in the spotlight while improving their speaking skills,” Tanya Osborne said.  “We want them to remember what it feels like to enjoy the success of their hard work.”