Bedford Village Third Graders Embody Figures from the Past and Present During Wax Museum

“Hold on, let me pour myself a cup of ambition,” Bedford Village Elementary School third grader Noelle Gleason said. Noelle was dressed in a blond wig, jeans and a pink gingham top as she played the part of Dolly Parton during her Wax Museum presentation.

“For the last two weeks, students have been working really hard,” third-grade teacher Daniel Levy said to a crowd of family members who had gathered to watch the presentations. “They chose five different figures that they were interested in researching. Once it was narrowed down, they researched on the internet and in books.”

The annual project is one that generates a lot of excitement for third graders.

“The Wax Museum ties into both our reading unit on biographies and our reading and writing units on research skills,” third-grade teacher Nicole Meinel said. “An additional benefit for the students is helping them gain experience with and improve their public speaking skills.”

Students in Levy and Meinel’s classes, along with those in Jessica Ayala’s class, dressed up like figures from the past and present with presentations about Caitlin Clark, Julius Caesar, Billie Eilish, Isaac Newton, Lionel Messi and Sacagawea. A lot of attention was paid to detail. There was a wig with a bald cap for Steve Jobs, green hair streaks for Billie Eilish, a variety of beards, athletic equipment, microphones and even a crown.

“I liked doing all of the research and going up there and saying everything,” said Gabriella Carrillo, who studied Taylor Swift.

During their presentations, students spoke about their figure’s background and important accomplishments and also provided some interesting facts.

“Did you know my English teacher called me Mistress Chatterbox because of how much I talked?” asked a student dressed as Anne Frank.

Other facts students shared included that Sacagawea was given rattlesnake rattles as medicine to speed up birthing and Dolly Parton has a collection of 365 wigs.

“The hardest part of the project was keeping it short and not too long,” said Simone Gorham, who was dressed as Kamala Harris. “Also, sometimes when I was reading, there were words I didn’t know or hadn’t heard before.”