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A variety of famous people were portrayed by sixth-grade students at Maplesville High School during their wax museum display. (JOYANNA LOVE/ ADVERTISER)

By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Famous figures from modern times and American history stood side by side in the Maplesville High School Wax Museum.

Sixth- grade students stood motionless until someone came up and pressed their “press” sticker.

After the button was pressed, the student came alive and told information about their character, similar to what one would see in a wax museum.

Teacher Dana Bolding said the project has been a tradition at Maplesville for several years, but this is her first year at the school.

“It has definitely been a hit in the past, and we wanted to continue the tradition this year,” Bolding said.

Bolding encouraged students to pick someone famous they were very interested in to research for the project.

Students could use the internet, books and interviews with knowledgeable people as sources for their project. From this research, students created a speech to give in character as the famous person.

Students created display boards to set behind them in the museum.

Costumes and props were also required. Some used items they already had, while others bought them at thrift stores or online.

“It has just been a wonderful day in sixth grade, and I have just really enjoyed seeing their excitement and their drive to do this and their motivation, it has been great,” Bolding said.

Every Maplesville student had the opportunity to attend.

“I have loved seeing how they dressed up and how they’ve done their posters, ” Bolding said.

The people portrayed ranged from Stephen King and Dolly Parton to the Wright Brothers and Helen Keller.

Will Harrison portrayed Abraham Lincoln.

“I just really like Abraham Lincoln as a president,” Harrison said.

He said one of the things that stood out about Lincoln was “how he freed the slaves.”

In his presentation, Harrison talked about Lincoln’s childhood, his election to president of the United States and how the Civil War ended.

Harrison said he enjoyed sharing the information with other students through the museum.

He said writing the speech was the most challenging aspect of the project

Kaylee Johnson portrayed Reba McEntire.

“I really admire her,” Johnson said.

Johnson said she also felt like she “was a lot like her” and liked her TV show.

The most challenging part for Johnson was memorizing the speech and keeping it consistent each time.

“Seeing the kids smile and learning more about Reba” were what Johnson enjoyed most about the project.

Alex Thomas was Orville Wright, and Bryson Pickle was Wilbur Wright.

Thomas said he especially enjoyed the airplane picture he found while researching the project.

For him, trying to remember his speech was the most difficult part.

Lydia Dutton portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt.

She said she enjoyed the research the most.

Natalie Ford portrayed Connie Morgan.

“At first, I didn’t know what I was going to do and so me and my mom, since I like ball, we looked up famous people who played ball (baseball),” Ford said. “We found Connie Morgan and she looked pretty interesting.”

She said her favorite part of the project was figuring out what to put on her display board.

Another student chose to portray Ruby Bridges, one of the first African American students to attend a desegregated school in New Orleans.

“I loved that she did Ruby Bridges,” Bolding said.

Bolding said she had visited the marker for the historic Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas) this past summer and was able to talk to the student about the landmark.

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