Second graders at Carlisle Elementary School give their presentations about their influential people Monday morning during the school’s annual Wax Museum event. From left to right are Ava Gatton (as Girl Scout founder Juliette Low), Jade Gibson (as Taylor Swift) and Riley McCoppin (as Amelia Earhart).
Glenn Battishill | The Gazette
Morgan Buemi (as Queen Elizabeth) and Ella Wojtseck (as children’s author Mo Willems) give presentations to their school mates Monday morning. Students were allowed to selected anyone they wanted for the project as long as that person “had a positive impact” on the world.
Glenn Battishill | The Gazette
June Mrofk (as Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and Hunter Wallace (as author Mo Willems) during the event Monday morning. Many students said they enjoyed the event because they were able to give a speech about their person.
Glenn Battishill | The Gazette
Second graders at Carlisle Elementary dressed up and gave presentations on influential people Monday as part of the school’s annual Wax Museum event.
Second grade teacher Sara Livingston said the students had been working on the project for over a month and had to research, write a speech about, and dress up as “someone that has made a positive impact on our world.” Some of the selection of people included athletes, performers, creators, an astronaut, a queen and two Dolly Partons.
Livingston said the goal of the project is to give students an idea of how much impact one person can have.
“We want them to take away that people have an impact on our world and society,” Livingston said. “(We want them to learn about) making the world a better place, leaving something behind that encourages other people to go for their dreams or be inspired.”
Livingston added she enjoyed seeing the students get excited about dressing up and presenting information about their subjects.
“I love to see them learn about different people from different cultures,” she said. “This is the best part — letting them dress up. It’s one of those things they remember. It’s very individualized. They get to pick something they are interested in.”
Livingston said she could ask any fifth grader at the school and they would still remember who they researched and presented during the project when they were in second grade.
Riley McCoppin gave her presentation Monday as Amelia Earhart and said she selected Earhart because of her flight across the Atlantic.
“I thought it was really cool,” Riley said. She said her favorite part of the project was getting to tell people things they didn’t know.
June Mrofka gave her presentation about Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and said she selected her because she “helped women get their rights.”
“I like that we get to give a speech,” June said. “It’s really, really fun. I really liked saying my speech over and over, telling people about me.”
Next to her was Hunter Wallace, dressed as children’s author Mo Willems. Hunter said he selected Willems because he was a fan of his books.
“(I picked him) because I read a lot of his books, and I like reading and his books are super funny,” Hunter said. “I liked making things about him and creating and reading the (speech.)”
Similarly, Jade Gibson did her report on Taylor Swift because she was already a fan.
“I’m a Swiftie,” Jade said. “She’s pretty. I liked that we got to dress up like our influential people. (I enjoyed) that people get to watch me give my speech.”
Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.
