Students bring history, nature to life

Haley Moore wasn't quite sure how to act like a wax figure for her role as an aide in the Revolutionary War battle of Monmouth for South Hamilton Elementary Schools' 2011 Wax Museum.

"You're allowed to blink, but you can't move. I have to hold a soldier who got hurt in the battle," Haley said.


Dressed in a long cotton dress and wearing a bonnet on her head, the 11-year-old student in Greg Powanda's fifth-grade class was excited about her role in the exhibit held Thursday and today. Tours will be offered to parents, relatives and friends from 10 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. and 1:45 to 3:20 p.m.

Powanda who started the wax museum idea when he was a third-grade teacher and transferred the idea when he moved to fifth grade.

He and fellow fifth-grade teacher Natalie Saunders work together to transform their classrooms into a makeshift museum complete with painted backdrops and narration.

Powanda's class featured different events in the American Revolution with students posing as wax figures to help visually recreate the Boston Tea Party and Betsy Ross sewing the American Flag.

In the other fifth grade classroom, Saunder's class featured a museum with the students posing as wax figures to help educate visitors about world biomes, including the African savanna and marine.

In a third room, students commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

About 60 students — 30 in each fifth grade class — participated in the event.

"These are all units of study that are part of the fifth grade curriculum. We are covering the American Revolution, and in reading we are covering biographies and doing research. So we kind of meshed them all together so that we tackle some big units in the curriculum, and give the students something fun to take part in," Powanda said.

Eleven-year-old Micaela Champion was excited about portraying Molly Pitcher.

"This has taught me a lot of things I didn't know before. I'd rather do this than have someone tell me about it," Micaela said.

"It helps you learn because you get to see how they were doing it back then."

For Andrew Shearer, 11, dressing up as a minuteman from the Battle of Concord helped him understand the Revolutionary War.

"It helps us learn what they looked like and what happened in the battles, because before you can make a wax museum you need to know what is happening and what is going on," Andrew said. "I like this process because it lets us act it out, which I think will help us digest it better."

Sporting a black beard, white turban, white T-shirt, khaki pants and sneakers was the way Nathan Bard, 11, depicted the most hated man in America — Osama bin Laden.

"I tried the best I could," Nathan said about his attire. "I did research on him, and I thought no one's going to want be him so I figured I might as well step up and be the person."

Before he participated in the 9/11 tribute, Nathan said he did a lot of research on bin Laden.

"I researched why he was the most hated man in America and what he did to become the most hated man in America. I found out about his compound, and there were 20-25 Seals that stormed his house and it was SEAL Team Six," Nathan said.

While Powanda's American Revolution inspired room and the 9/11 tribute room were historical in nature, Saunders said her room was based on her science curriculum of world biomes.

"The students got to learn about different ecosystems around the world by researching them and writing about them," she said.

At each biome station, a student read a narrative about the biome.

"Hands-on experiences are definitely a great opportunity for them to further their learning," Saunders said.