Babe Ruth rubbed shoulders with Walt Disney Tuesday morning at Trinity Christian School.
And Amelia Earhart and Harriet Tubman had a nice talk, also.
The project at the faith-based school that sits high in the hills above Sabraton was billed as a “wax museum,” only this proceeding had a twist.
It wasn’t about figures cast in paraffin. It was about people.
Living, breathing people who lived through amazing times and did amazing things to shape those times.
Jenny Cunningham, who teaches fourth-grade, launched the lesson plan as a way to bring that history alive.
The 16 students in her class had already done extensive writing and research for the project.
And when Tuesday morning came around, the time travel was complete.
Students wore costumes depicting their homework subjects, and they came armed with tri-fold poster boards full of the factoids and quirks and bits of biography that went well past the textbook.
Meanwhile, the subjects didn’t have to be deceased to qualify, the teacher said with a chuckle.
“Some of our kids spotlighted people who are still very much with us, shaping our nation,” she said.
Which, was the real point of the exercise, the teacher said. It was designed to show the courage of the pioneering people who invented as they went along – plus the others who didn’t shy from social ills to make things better.
The figures portrayed stayed strong and didn’t give up, the teacher said.
Dressing in costume helped, she said.
That meant creative, intellectual investment, the teacher said.
Especially since the parents of the those writing about and portraying the figures were there.
“History isn’t about names and dates in the textbook,” Cunningham said. “These are the things that stay with our kids. They did a great job. They were knowledgeable. They could talk about it.”
And, besides, she said, a lot of it was just plain fun.
“Our kids were surprised that Walt Disney’s drawing didn’t start out looking the way they do now.”
Cunningham did, though.
Back home in Louisville, Ky., she made money as kid by babysitting. Not only did she like it, she caught herself teaching and doing some kid-mentoring of her own.
“I always knew I was going to be a teacher,” she said.
For her, teaching is sharing, and making her students aware.
That’s because they’re in the middle of history right now, as they’re living the pandemic, she said.
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