Gen. Robert E. Lee, John Calhoun and Jennie Hodgers were some of the people who roamed the halls of Jenkins Elementary Thursday morning.
Third- through fifth-graders in the school's gifted program took part in the Civil War Wax Museum, getting to choose which historical figure they would portray from a list their teacher composed.
"I picked Jennie Hodgers because I found her name interesting," said Erica Cekada, 10.
However, once she started researching Hodgers, she found several other things she liked about her.
"I found it cool she was a girl pretending to be a boy in the Union Army," Erica said. "She fought for three years, until August 1865. It wasn't until nine years after her death that her true identity was discovered."
The Civil War era was selected because the fifth-graders recently studied it in class, said Janet Hambrick, the AIG instructor at Jenkins Elementary. Students had a few weeks to research the person they selected, and had to design a costume. They were also required to have a timeline and facts about their historical person, and a quote by that person. The students also had to have a PowerPoint presentation, poster or tri-fold display about their historical figure, Hambrick said.
Sam Mackey was dressed up as Ulysses S. Grant, with a brown hat and dark jacket and pants. He colored a beard on his face with a mascara wand. Sam, 11, said he selected Grant because his friend picked Robert E. Lee, and they wanted to be opposing leaders together.
Sam took his role as a figure in a wax museum seriously. He placed a bright cutout circle on his palm that said "press here." When someone did, he would recite information about Grant in a me-chanical voice, like he was a wax figure in a museum.
Some students had historical reasons for choosing their subjects.
Darian Abernathy selected Sally Louisa Tompkins as her character, because Tompkins was the Angel of the Confederacy.
"She helped so many people survive," Darian said. "Only 73 people died, out of more than 1,000 at the hospital she worked at in Virginia."
Darian lovingly touched her costume, saying her aunt made the black skirt she was wearing, and that she wanted to be buried in the black veil she wore over her head. Abernathy said she selected her outfit based on photos she had seen of Tompkins, which she displayed on the tri-fold board next to her as part of her presentation.
"It was really fun doing this," Darian said. "Everyone looks really goofy. It was a good experience learning about everyone's person."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement